V 


JAN  15  1924 
**  OfiltAL 


BV  4915  . T 6 

Torrey,  R.  A.  1856-1928 
How  to  be  saved,  and  how  to 
be  lost 


Digitized  by  the  Internet  Archive 
in  2019  with  funding  from 
Princeton  Theological  Seminary  Library 


https://archive.org/details/howtobesavedhowt00torr_0 


How  To  Be  Saved 


By  R.  A.  TORRE Y,  D.  D. 

LATEST  ISSUES 

The  Voice  of  God  in  the  Present  Hour . 

Cloth . 

The  Person  and  Work  of  the  Holy  Spirit. 

Cloth . 

Difficulties  and  Alleged  Errors  and  Contradic¬ 
tions  in  the  Bible.  Cloth  .  . 

Practical  and  Perplexing  Questions  Answered. 

Cloth  . 

Anecdotes  and  Illustrations.  Illustrated. 

Cloth, 

FOR  REVIVAL  WORK 

How  to  Bring  Men  to  Christ.  Cloth, 
paper, 

How  to  Work  for  Christ.  Cloth  . 

How  to  Promote  and  Co7iduct  a  Successful 
Revival , . 

REVIVAL  TALKS  AND  ADDRESSES 

The  Bible  and  Its  Christ.  Cloth, 
paper, 

Revival  Addresses.  Clo.,  pa., 

Real  Salvation  and  Whole-Hearted  Service. 
l2mo,  cloth,  paper, 

FOR  BIBLE  STUDY 
What  the  Bible  Teaches. 

What  the  Bible  has  to  Say  Concerning  the  Great 
Doctrines  of  which  it  Treats.  Cloth, 

How  to  Study  the  Bible  for  Greatest  Profit. 
Cloth . 

FOR  THE  CHRISTIAN  LIFE 

How  to  Succeed  in  the  Christian  Life.  Cloth, 

;  paper, 

How  to  Pray.  Cloth . 

How  to  Obtain  Fullness  of  Power  in  Christian 
Life  and  Service.  Cloth  .  „  , 

The  Baptism  With  the  Holy  Spirit. 

Cloth . . 

A  Vest  Pocket  Companion  for  Christian  Workers . 
Leatherette 


How  To  Be  Saved 

AND  HOW  TO  BE  LOST 


The  Way  of  Salvation  and  the  Way  of  Condemnation 

Made  as  Plain  as  Day  * . 


By 

R.  A.  TORREY,  D.  D 


'4 


JAN  15  1924 


Author  of  “ The  Gospel  for  To-day “How  to  Bring 
Men  to  Christ,1  1  etc . 


New  York  Chicago 

Fleming  H.  Revell  Company 

London  and  Edinburgh 


Copyright,  1923,  by 
FLEMING  H.  REVELL  COMPANY 


New  York:  158  Fifth  Avenue 
Chicago:  17  North  Wabash  Ave. 
London:  21  Paternoster  Square 
Edinburgh:  75  Princes  Street 


PREFACE 


THE  immediate  purpose  of  this  book  is  to 
make  the  way  of  salvation  as  plain  as  day, 
to  men,  women  and  children,  with  the  ex¬ 
pectation  that  many  of  those  who  read  the  book, 
when  they  see  the  way,  will  take  it,  and  be  saved  at 
once,  and  obtain  eternal  life  immediately.  The  book 
goes  out  into  the  world  for  the  same  purpose  that 
Jesus  Christ  came  into  it,  “to  seek  and  to  save  the 
lost”  (Luke  19:  10).  The  average  man  or  woman, 
even  among  well-educated  people,  does  not  know 
just  what  to  do  to  be  saved.  When  I  was  nineteen 
years  of  age,  and  a  Senior  in  Yale  College,  I  was 
awakened  to  the  fact  that  I  needed  salvation,  but  I 
was  totally  ignorant  of  what  to  do  to  get  it.  I  groped 
in  deepest  darkness.  I  had  gone  to  perfectly  ortho¬ 
dox  churches  every  Sunday  of  my  life  ever  since  I 
was  a  very  little  boy,  and  had  been  years  in  the  Sun¬ 
day  School,  could  quote  whole  chapters  in  the  Bible, 
had  read  the  Bible  every  day  of  my  life  for  six 
years,  had  read  it  through  at  least  once,  and  had 
taught  a  large  Sunday-school  class;  but  I  did  not 
know  what  to  do  to  be  saved.  I  have  reason  to  be¬ 
lieve  that  what  was  true  of  me  then  is  equally  true 
of  the  average  man  and  woman,  and  the  average  boy 
and  girl  to-day. 

I  have  reason  to  think  that  these  sermons,  which 
are  simply  an  exposition  in  language  that  any  man, 


6 


PREFACE 


woman,  or  child,  can  understand  of  what  God  has 
to  say  in  His  word  on  this  all-important  subject, 
make  the  way  to  be  saved  so  plain  that  anyone  who 
wishes  to  know  that  way  can  easily  find  it.  Many 
(especially  men)  saw  the  way  of  life  and  took  it 
when  these  sermons  were  preached  to  my  own  people 
this  year  and  last.  One  man  said  to  me  one  night, 
a  few  weeks  ago,  “  I  am  fifty-two  years  old,  and  I 
have  been  waiting  to  hear  that  sermon  for  thirty- 
four  years.”  He  took  the  Lord  Jesus  and  publicly 
confessed  Him,  and  was  saved  that  night.  I  think 
fie  had  never  been  in  our  church  before. 

It  is  hoped  that  many  who  have  unsaved  friends 
will  put  this  book  in  their  hands,  and  that  these  un¬ 
saved  friends  will  be  saved  at  once.  I  shall  pray  for 
every  unsaved  person  that  reads  this  book,  and  that 
many  may  be  saved  through  reading  the  book. 

I  hope  also  that  some  of  my  brethren  in  the  min¬ 
istry  may  be  helped  into  a  more  effective  ministry  by 
reading  this  book.  If  any  of  them  wish  to  borrow 
from  these  sermons  to  enrich  their  own,  they  are 
heartily  welcome  to  do  so.  The  truth  in  these  ser¬ 
mons  is  not  mine — it  is  God’s,  and  His  servants  are 

welcome  to  it.  Many  preachers  say  to  me,  “  I  bor- 

« 

rowed  one  of  your  sermons.  I  hope  you  are  not 
angry.”  No — I  am  glad:  that  is  why  I  publish  my 
sermons.  God  grant  that  these  sermons  may  be  even 
more  abundantly  blessed  in  this  book  than  they  were 
in  the  pulpit  of  “  The  Church  of  the  Open  Door.” 

R.  A.  Torrey. 


Contents 


I.  Why  Jesus  Christ  Came  Into  the 

World . 9 

II  Tim.  1  : 15 

II.  A  Good  Man  Who  Went  to  Hell  and 

a  Bad  Man  Who  Went  to  Heaven  22 
Luke  18  : 9-14 

III.  A  Wonderful  Contrast:  Under  the 

Curse  of  God,  or  a  Child  of  God. 
Which  Are  You?  ....  40 

Gal.  3  : 10  R.  V. 

IV.  How  a  Good  Man  But  an  Unsaved 

Man  Became  a  Child  of  God  .  .  54 

Acts  11 : 13 , 14 

V.  Saved  By  a  Cry . 67 

Acts  10 : 13 

VI.  How  to  Be  Unspeakably  Happy  at 

All  Times  and  Under  All  Circum¬ 
stances  . 83 

I  Pet .  1  : 8 

VII.  Is  There  Any  Man  or  Woman  in  this 

City  Whom  the  Lord  Jesus  Cannot 
Save  and  Fill  With  Radiant  Joy?  .  102 
Heb.  7 : 25 

VIII.  The  Unpardonable  Sin  ....  127 

Matt.  12  : 31,  32 


,8  CONTENTS 

IX.  The  Blood  of  Jesus  Christ,  God’s  Son, 

Cleanseth  From  All  Sin  .  .  139 

I  John  1:7 

X.  Paths  to  Perdition . 150 

Matt.  7  : 13,  14 

XI.  There  is  a  Hell,  and  If  You  Don’t 

Look  Out,  You  Are  Going  There  .  165 
Matt.  5  :  29  R.  V.;  Matt.  10  :  28  R.  V;  Matt. 

23  :  S3  R.  V;  Matt.  25  :  41  R-  V. 

XII.  There  is  a  Heaven,  and  Whosoever 
Wishes  To,  Can  Spend  Eternity 

There . 183 

John  14  *  2-6;  John  17  : 24;  Heb.  8:1; 

II  Cor.  5  : 1;  I  Pet.  1 : 3-5 

XIII.  The  Day  of  Golden  Opportunity  .  200 
Heb.  3 : 7 


I 


WHY  JESUS  CHRIST  CAME  INTO 
THE  WORLD 

“This  is  a  faithful  saying,  and  worthy  of  all 
acceptation ,  that  Christ  Jesus  came  into  the  world 
to  save  sinners;  of  whom  I  am  chief.” — Timothy 
i:  15. 


OUR  subject  to-night  is  one  that  has  engaged 
the  thoughtful  and  earnest  attention  for 
years  not  only  of  theologians  but  also  of 
sociologists,  historians,  political  philosophers  and  re¬ 
formers.  Some  tell  us  that  “  Christ  Jesus  came  into 
the  world  to  proclaim  the  great  truths  of  the  Father¬ 
hood  of  God  and  the  Brotherhood  of  Man  ”  Others 
say  that  “  Christ  Jesus  came  into  the  world  to  carry 
to  completion  God’s  original  thought  in  the  creation 
of  man.”  Still  others  tell  us  that  “  He  came  into 
the  world  to  reorganize  society  on  new  lines,  to  estab¬ 
lish  a  new  form  of  human  society,  the  kingdom  of 
God  on  earth.”  Not  a  few  tell  us  that  “Jesus 
Christ  came  into  the  world  simply  as  the  proclaimer 
of  new  ethical  principles  by  which  men  were  to 
mould  their  lives.” 

But  there  is  no  need  that  we  speculate  or  guess 
or  argue  as  to  why  Jesus  Christ  came  into  the  world; 
for  God  Himself  has  seen  fit  to  tell  us  in  the  most 
plain  and  explicit  words  just  why  Jesus  Christ  came 

9 


10 


HOW  TO  BE  SAVED 


into  this  world.  You  will  find  God’s  own  statement 
of  why  Jesus  Christ  came  into  the  world  in  I  Tim. 
1:15,  “This  is  a  faithful  saying,  and  worthy  of  all 
acceptation,  that  Christ  Jesus  came  into  the  world 
to  save  sinners.”  No  one  can  mistake  the  meaning 
of  those  words.  Listen  again :  “  This  is  a  faithful 
saying,  and  worthy  of  all  acceptation,  that  Christ 
Jesus  came  into  the  world  to  save  sinners.”  When 
we  stop  to  reflect  upon  the  exact  meaning  and  full 
force  of  this  statement  it  will  seem  incredible.  These 
words  unmistakably  declare  that  it  was  an  interest 
in  sinners,  in  the  vile  outcast,  in  rebels  against  God, 
in  blasphemers,  persecutors,  perjurers,  thieves,  rob¬ 
bers,  harlots,  thugs,  bandits,  murderers,  that  induced 
the  glorious  Son  of  God  to  leave  heaven’s  joys  and 
glories  and  to  come  down  into  this  world.  And 
these  words  furthermore  tell  us  that  Christ  Jesus 
came  into  the  world  not  to  punish  sinners  as  the 
holy  executioner  of  God’s  wrath  against  sin,  nor  to 
study  them  as  a  great  philosopher.  No,  no,  He  came 
to  save  them.  Does  it  look  credible  that  the  Son 
of  God  should  step  down  from  the  throne  of  His 
glory,  lay  that  infinite  glory  aside,  consent  to  enter 
this  world  through  the  lowly  door  of  Bethlehem’s 
manger  and  leave  it  through  the  shameful  and 
dreadful  door  of  Calvary’s  Cross  to  save  sinners? 
No  wonder  that  Paul  felt  it  necessary  to  preface  this 
astounding  statement  with  the  words,  “  This  is  a 
faithful  saying,  and  worthy  of  all  acceptation” 
Paul  well  knew  that  philosophers  and  thinking  men 
generally  would  not  be  ready  to  accept  this  state¬ 
ment  of  the  purpose  of  the  coming  of  that  infinitely 
glorious  person,  Jesus  Christ,  into  this  world,  and 


WHY  JESUS  CHRIST  CAME 


11 


therefore  he  will  call  their  attention  to  the  fact  that 
as  incredible  as  this  statement  appears  to  be,  it  was 
God’s  own  word  and  therefore  worthy  of  man’s  un¬ 
questioning  and  absolute  confidence  and  of  all  ac¬ 
ceptance.  Yes,  this  is  why  Christ  Jesus  came  into 
the  world,  this  is  the  great  central  purpose  of  His 
coming,  to  save  sinners.  “  Christ  Jesus  came  into 
the  world  to  save  sinners  .” 

I.  In  Whose  Behalf  it  was  that  Christ  Jesus 
Came  Into  the  World 

Notice  first  of  all,  please,  in  whose  behalf  it  was 
that  Christ  Jesus  came,  in  the  behalf  of  “  sinners.” 
“  Sinners  ”  is  not  a  nice  word,  and  the  fact  for 
which  it  stands  is  even  worse  than  the  word.  Sin 
is  the  foulest,  hatefullest,  most  hideous,  most  loath¬ 
some  thing  in  all  the  universe.  Disease,  leprosy, 
death,  corruption,  rottenness,  putridity,  and  all  other 
repulsive  and  disgusting  things  are  one  and  all 
merely  inadequate  types  of  sin  and  its  hideousness 
and  repulsiveness.  The  sinner  is  the  personal  em¬ 
bodiment  of  all  this  foulness  and  vileness  and  re¬ 
pulsiveness,  and  yet  Jesus  Christ  the  Holy  Son  of 
God  came  into  the  world  in  behalf  of  sinners. 

Men  and  women  who  were  sinners  and  who  were 
conscious  of  the  fact  seemed  to  be  the  only  people 
in  whom  Christ  Jesus  took  any  interest  when  He 
was  here  on  earth.  He  “  received  sinners,”  He 
“  called  sinners,”  He  “  ate  with  publicans  and  sin¬ 
ners.”  He  announced  as  His  program,  “I  came 
not  to  call  the  righteous,  but  sinners”  (Matt.  9:  13), 
and  again,  “  The  Son  of  man  is  come  to  seek  and 
to  save  that  which  was  lost”  (Luke  19:10).  A 


12 


HOW  TO  BE  SAVED 


very  prominent  and  eminently  respectable  and  pro¬ 
foundly  pious  leader  among  the  Jews  came  in  a  very 
deferential  way  to  Christ  Jesus  one  night  to  ask 
Him  a  few  important  questions,  and  He  practically 
slammed  the  door  in  his  face  by  saying  “  you  must 
be  born  again.”  He  would  not  even  reason  with  him, 
but  kept  saying  “  you  must  be  born  again.”  In  the 
very  next  chapter  a  loose,  abandoned  woman  strays 
His  way  and  He  tells  her  all  about  the  water  which 
if  a  man  drink  thereof  he  will  “  never  thirst  again,” 
and  about  the  true  way  to  worship,  and  about  His 
own  Messianic  office. 

In  the  1 8th  chapter  of  Luke  a  most  attractive 
young  man  came  to  Jesus  Christ,  a  young  man  who 
had  led  a  most  exemplary  life,  a  life  of  morality  and 
piety  and  generosity  and  culture,  and  Christ  sends 
him  away  sorrowful  by  an  uncompromising  demand 
that  he  sell  all  his  honestly  gotten  possessions  and 
give  the  proceeds  to  the  poor,  and  in  the  very  next 
chapter  He  tells  a  notorious,  money-grasping  old  sin¬ 
ner  named  Zacchaeus  that  He  wants  to  put  up  at 
his  house. 

In  the  7th  chapter  of  Luke,  Jesus  Christ  hits  a 
very  respectable  and  highly  esteemed  and  hospitable 
gentleman  named  Simon  a  slap  in  the  face,  and  al¬ 
most  in  the  same  breath  tenderly  says  to  a  disrepu¬ 
table  woman  of  the  town  “  Thy  sins  are  forgiven — 
go  in  peace.” 

All  of  His  interest  was  in  sinners,  all  His  tender¬ 
ness  was  for  sinners,  all  His  infinitely  gracious  in¬ 
vitations  were  for  sinners.  Oh,  how  wondrously 
kind  and  gentle  He  was  to  sinners.  But  how  merci¬ 
less  He  was  to  moralists,  to  all  who  boasted  of  their 


WHY  JESUS  CHRIST  CAME 


13 


own  goodness,  of  their  religion  and  their  righteous¬ 
ness,  stripping  off  the  veneering  of  decency  that  cov¬ 
ered  the  real  rottenness  within,  calling  them  “  white¬ 
washed  sepulchres/’  “  hidden  graves,”  enclosures  of 
rottenness  and  corruption  and  dead  men’s  bones, 
“  generation  of  snakes.” 

Christ  Jesus  came  to  save  sinners.  Do  you  wish 
Christ  Jesus  to  take  an  interest  in  you  and  to  save 
you?  Well,  then,  you  must  take  your  place  before 
Him  as  a  sinner ,  just  a  commonplace,  unadorned,  un¬ 
varnished,  inexcusable,  self-confessed  sinner.  Not  a 
respectable  sinner,  no ;  nor  a  genteel  sinner,  nor  a 
cultivated  sinner,  no ;  nor  an  attractive  sinner,  no ; 
nor  an  amiable  sinner,  no ;  but  just  a  plain,  unadorned 
sinner;  a  poor,  miserable,  vile,  guilty,  worthless,  hell¬ 
deserving  sinner.  Do  you  know  that  more  people  are 
shut  out  of  Jesus  Christ’s  saving  grace  and  out  of 
pardon  and  out  of  heaven  and  out  of  eternal  life  be¬ 
cause  they  won’t  get  right  down  before  Christ  Jesus 
as  sinners,  plain,  ugly,  wretched  sinners,  than  by  any¬ 
thing  else?  Far  more  people  are  shut  out  of  heaven 
by  the  pride  that  keeps  them  from  crying  “  God  be 
merciful  to  me  a  sinner,”  than  are  shut  out  by  the 
enormity  of  their  sins  or  by  the  stubbornness  of  their 
infidelity.  It  is  as  true  to-day  as  it  was  when  Jesus 
Christ  first  said  it  to  the  moralists  of  His  own  day, 
“  the  publicans  and  harlots  go  into  the  kingdom  of 
heaven  before  you”  (Matt.  21:31). 

One  night  in  an  after-meeting  in  Chicago,  as  I 
passed  through  the  innermost  inquiry  room,  a  lady 
of  large  culture  sat  there  among  the  inquirers.  This 
woman  had  taken  two  or  three  university  degrees, 
she  was  in  professional  life  and  was  one  of  the  most 


14 


HOW  TO  BE  SAVED 


highly  cultured  women  who  attended  our  church. 
As  I  passed  by  she  said,  “  Mr.  Torrey,  will  you 
speak  with  me?  ”  I  replied,  “  If  you  will  wait  a  few 
moments  until  I  speak  to  these  poor  creatures  over 
yonder/’  looking  toward  some  poor  outcasts  grouped 
together  in  a  corner  of  the  room,  “  I  will  come  back 
and  speak  with  you.”  These  poor  outcasts  knew 
that  they  were  sinners  and  they  accepted  Jesus 
Christ.  Then  I  came  back  to  the  lady  and  drawing 
up  a  chair  sat  down  in  front  of  her  and  asked  her 
“  What  can  I  do  for  you?  ”  She  replied,  “  Mr.  Tor¬ 
rey,  I  have  not  a  satisfactory  Christian  experience.” 
I  replied,  “  I  do  not  think  you  have  any  Christian 
experience  at  all.”  “  Why,”  she  replied,  “  I  am  a 
church  member.”  I  answered,  “  Unfortunately  that 
does  not  prove  anything.  I  am  sorry  to  say  that  I 
have  known  many  church  members  whom  I  could 
not  believe  were  really  saved.”  “  But,”  she  said,  “  I 
am  a  Sunday-school  teacher.”  I  said,  “  Unfortu¬ 
nately  that  does  not  prove  anything,  I  am  sorry  to 
say  I  have  known  not  a  few  Sunday-school  teachers 
of  whose  salvation  I  was  not  at  all  sure.”  “  But,” 
she  replied,  “  I  am  the  widow  of  a  minister,” 
“  Well,”  I  said,  “  unfortunately  even  that  fact  does 
not  prove  anything.  I  do  not  read  anywhere  in  the 
Bible  that  anyone  is  saved  by  marrying  a  parson.” 

“  Now,”  I  said,  “  I  do  not  believe  that  you  ever 
in  all  your  life  came  to  God  as  a  poor,  vile,  worth¬ 
less,  miserable,  hell-deserving  sinner,  not  essentially 
better  than  those  poor  creatures  over  in  the  corner.” 
She  immediately  straightened  up  and  her  eyes  flashed 
as  she  replied,  “  No,  I  never  did,  for  I  am  not.”  I 
looked  at  her  and  quietly  said,  “You  are  about  as 


WHY  JESUS  CHRIST  CAME 


15 


full  of  spiritual  conceit  as  anyone  I  ever  met.”  She 
gasped  out,  “Mr.  Torrey,  you  are  cruel.”  “No,”  I 
replied,  “  I  am  kind.  It  is  not  cruel,  it  is  kind,  to 
tell  people  the  truth.”  “  Now,”  I  said,  “  you  are  a 
physician,  are  you  not?”  She  said,  “Yes,  I  am.” 
“  Suppose  you  had  a  patient  who  had  a  great  big 
tumor  and  you  took  a  sharp  knife  and  cut  it  out. 
Would  that  be  cruel?  ”  “  No,”  she  answered,  “  that 
would  be  the  kindest  thing  I  could  do.”  “  Well,”  I 
said,  “  you  have  a  great  big  tumor  of  spiritual  pride 
and  by  the  grace  of  God  I  will  cut  it  out  to-night.” 
The  woman  had  sense  even  if  she  was  proud.  She 
immediately  dropped  on  her  knees  and  came  to  God 
as  a  poor,  vile,  worthless,  miserable,  hell-deserving 
sinner,  and  she  got  “  a  satisfactory  Christian  experi¬ 
ence.”  But  there  are  some  of  you  who  have  never 
done  it,  and  some  of  you  who  are  determined  that 
you  never  will  do  it.  Well,  you  will  or  else  you  will 
spend  eternity  in  hell. 

Come,  my  genial,  upright,  polished,  perfect  gentle¬ 
man,  you  must  get  down  and  take  your  place  as  a 
sinner,  if  Jesus  Christ  is  to  take  any  interest  in  you 
and  save  you.  Come,  my  fine  lady,  with  fair  and 
attractive  life  and  beautiful  character  and  generous 
culture  and  winsome  personality  and  an  honoured 
place  in  society,  you,  too,  have  got  to  get  down  in 
your  right  place  before  God  as  a  sinner  if  Christ 
Jesus  is  to  save  you.  Yes,  you  must  get  down  right 
alongside  your  sister  from  the  slums,  for  “  Christ 
Jesus  came  into  the  world  to  save  sinners  ”  and  He 
saves  nobody  else.  Are  you  one?  Are  you  a  real, 
genuine  sinner?  If  not,  Christ  did  not  come  for 
you.  Oh,  we  have  thousands  in  our  churches  to-day 


16 


HOW  TO  BE  SAVED 


who  have  never  taken  their  places  as  lost  sinners  be¬ 
fore  Jesus  Christ,  and,  of  course,  they  have  never 
been  saved. 

Over  the  door  of  the  Moody  Church  in  Chicago, 
when  I  was  pastor,  these  words  were  engraved  in 
the  stone,  “  Welcome  to  this  house  of  God  are 
strangers  and  the  poor.”  I  fear  that  motto  kept  a 
good  many  people  away  from  that  church.  They 
preferred  to  go  where  the  rich  and  cultured  were 
especially  welcome.  But  suppose  that  motto  had 
read,  “  This  church  is  for  sinners.”  Would  you  like 
to  have  gone  to  that  church?  But  if  this  church  in 
which  we  are  met  to-night  is  to  be  a  true  church 
of  Jesus  Christ  that  is  whom  it  is  for,  for  “  sin¬ 
ners”:  “Christ  Jesus  came  into  the  world  to  save 
sinners ” 

But  while  this  great  and  wonderful  text  takes 
away  all  hope  from  the  mere  moralist,  while  it  says 
to  every  man  and  woman  who  is  unwilling  to  take 
their  places  before  Christ  as  sinners,  “  Christ  Jesus 
is  not  for  you,  the  Gospel  is  not  for  you,  the  Bible 
is  not  for  you,  heaven  is  not  for  you,”  on  the  other 
hand,  how  wide  this  text  throws  open  the  door  for 
all  who  are  sinners  and  who  know  it.  Yes,  even 
for  the  vilest.  Listen  again,  “  This  is  a  faithful 
saying,  and  worthy  of  all  acceptation,  that  Christ 
Jesus  came  into  the  world  to  save  sinners.”  How 
many  a  man  and  woman  there  is  to-day  who  is  say¬ 
ing,  “  Christ  Jesus  is  not  for  me,  salvation  is  not  for 
me,  eternal  life  is  not  fqr  me,  the  inheritance  incor¬ 
ruptible,  undefiled  and  that  fadeth  not  away  is  not 
for  me.”  Why  not?  “  Oh,  I  am  so  great  a  sinner.” 
Listen,  “  This  is  a  faithful  saying,  and  worthy  of  all 


WHY  JESUS  CHRIST  CAME 


17 


acceptation,  that  Christ  Jesus  came  into  the  world 
to  save  sinners.”  Do  you  hear  that?  It  was  in  be¬ 
half  of  sinners  that  Jesus  Christ  came  into  this 
world,  and  because  you  are  just  what  you  are,  a 
“sinner,”  a  grievous,  way-down,  miserable,  hopeless, 
helpless,  hell-deserving  sinner,  it  is  just  that  fact 
that  makes  Christ  Jesus  for  you,  and  heaven  for  you, 
and  salvation  for  you,  and  eternal  life  for  you: 
“  This  is  a  faithful  saying,  and  worthy  of  all  accepta¬ 
tion,  that  Christ  Jesus  came  into  the  world  to  save 
sinners  .”  I  see  passing  before  me  as  I  speak  a  long, 
long  line  of  men  and  women  whom  I  have  met  in 
different  parts  of  the  world  who  seemed  utterly 
beyond  hope,  and  who  considered  themselves  utterly 
beyond  hope,  because  they  had  gone  so  deep  into  sin 
and  remained  so  long  in  sin,  but  who  by  the  power 
of  this  text  were  led  to  put  their  trust  in  the  Saviour 
who  came  into  the  world  to  save  “sinners”  Yes, 
“  Christ  Jesus  came  into  the  world  to  save  sinners” 
and  He  does  it.  And  He  can  do  it  for  anyone  here 
to-night  who  will  take  his  place  as  a  lost  sinner.  But 
He  cannot  do  it  for  anyone  else. 

II.  What  Was  the  Purpose  of  Christ  Jesus 
Concerning  Sinners? 

We  see  then  it  was  in  behalf  of  sinners  that  Christ 
Jesus  came  into  the  world,  but  What  Was  His  Pur¬ 
pose  Concerning  Sinners?  To  Save.  “  Christ  Jesus 
came  into  the  world  to  save  sinners.”  As  already 
suggested,  He  did  not  come  into  the  world  to  punish 
sinners.  Neither  did  He  come  to  condemn  sinners. 
He  did  not  come  to  upbraid  sinners.  He  did  up¬ 
braid  certain  classes  of  sinners  sometimes  but  that 


18 


HOW  TO  BE  SAVED 


was  not  what  He  came  for,  that  was  merely  an  inci¬ 
dent.  He  did  not  come  to  reform  sinners.  That 
is  a  hopeless  and  worthless  task.  It  is  like  painting 
the  cheeks  of  a  corpse.  It  will  not  keep  the  corpse 
from  rotting.  He  did  not  come  to  help  sinners,  to 
help  them  to  do  better.  Ah,  friends,  a  sinner’s  case 
is  so  desperate  that  he  needs  something  more  than 
help,  something  that  goes  far  deeper  than  help.  He 
came  to  save  sinners,  to  redically,  thoroughly  and 
eternally  save  sinners.  To  save  them  freely,  fully, 
and  forever. 

i.  First  of  all,  He  came  to  save  sinners  from  the 
guilt  of  their  sins.  There  is  a  Holy  God  up  yonder, 
an  infinitely  Holy  God,  and  when  a  man  once  sins 
he  is  a  guilty  sinner  before  yonder  Holy  God.  His 
sins  avert  the  face  of  that  Holy  Being  from  him,  his 
sin  separates  between  him  and  that  Holy  God,  and 
the  wrath  of  that  Holy  God  is  kindled  against  him, 
though  that  God  loves  him.  Christ  Jesus  came  into 
the  world  to  save  us  from  our  guilt,  to  save  us  from 
the  wrath  of  God,  and  to  give  our  guilty  consciences 
peace. 

How  did  Jesus  save  sinners  from  their  guilt? 
Listen  to  God’s  own  answer  to  that  question, 
“  Christ  redeemed  us  from  the  curse  of  the  law, 
having  become  a  curse  for  us:  for  it  is  written. 
Cursed  is  every  one  that  hangeth  on  a  tree  ”  (Gal. 
3: 13).  He  saved  us  from  the  guilt  of  sin  by  taking 
our  guilt  upon  Himself,  by  bearing  our  penalty  in 
His  own  body  on  the  Cross,  of  Calvary.  The  curse 
was  your  due  and  mine;  but  Jesus  Christ,  God  mani¬ 
fested  in  the  flesh,  took  that  curse  upon  Himself. 
Listen  again,  “  All  we,  like  sheep,  have  gone  astray ; 


WHY  JESUS  CHRIST  CAME 


10 


we  have  turned  everyone  to  his  own  way;  and  Je¬ 
hovah  hath  made  to  strike  on  Him  (that  is,  on  Jesus 
Christ)  the  iniquity  of  us  all”  (Isa.  53:6,  literally 
translated).  By  His  atoning  death  Jesus  Christ  put 
away  the  sin  that  stood  between  you  and  God.  By 
His  atoning  death,  by  the  shedding  of  His  blood, 
God’s  wrath  at  my  sin  and  at  your  sin  was  settled 
and  settled  forever.  By  His  death  my  guilty  con¬ 
science  finds  peace.  Let  me  say  that  this  is  with  me 
not  a  mere  matter  of  theological  opinion  but  a  mat¬ 
ter  of  glad  and  certain  experimental  knowledge. 
Christ  Jesus  saves  from  the  guilt  and  penalty  of  sin, 
I  know  that.  I  do  not  merely  think  so  or  hope  so, 
I  know  it.  I  know  that  Christ  Jesus  “has  power 
on  earth  to  forgive  sins  ”  because  He  has  forgiven 
my  sins,  and  they  were  very  many  and  they  were 
very  great.  And  I  know  that  through  His  atoning 
death,  which  I  have  accepted  as  the  whole  ground 
and  the  sole  ground  of  my  salvation,  every  sin  of 
mine  has  been  blotted  out  forever,  and  that  there  is 
not  a  cloud  between  me  and  the  Infinitely  Holy  God 
in  whose  presence  the  very  seraphim  veil  their  faces 
and  their  feet. 

2.  But  Christ  Jesus  came  not  merely  to  save  the 
sinner  from  the  guilt  of  his  sins  and  from  the 
penalty  of  his  sins,  but  to  save  him  also  from  the 
power  of  sin.  Jesus  Christ  does  save  from  sin’s 
guilt  and  from  sin’s  punishment,  He  does  save  from 
a  guilty  conscience  and  from  hell,  but  thank  God 
that  is  not  all,  He  saves  from  sin's  power.  Our 
Lord’s  own  words  bring  this  out  with  great  clearness 
and  force,  He  Himself  says  in  Jno.  8:34,  “Every 
one  that  committeth  sin  is  the  slave  of  sin.”  Now 


20 


HOW  TO  BE  SAVED 


we  all  know  this  is  true.  Oh,  how  many  of  us  know 
to-night  from  bitterest  experience  the  slavery  of  sin, 
the  slavery,  e.  g.,  of  intemperance,  or  the  slavery  of 
lust,  or  the  slavery  of  the  greed  for  gold,  or  the 
slavery  of  a  bad  temper,  or  the  slavery  of  an 
unruly  tongue,  or  the  slavery  of  a  mean  dis¬ 
position,  or  the  slavery  of  unclean  thoughts.  Yes, 
we  have  all  known  something  about  the  bondage  of 
sin,  but  listen  to  what  Jesus  Christ  says  two  verses 
further  on,  “  If  therefore  the  Son  shall  make  you 
free,  ye  shall  be  free  indeed”  (Jno.  8:36).  Jesus 
Christ  the  Son  of  God,  the  Saviour  who  died  on 
Calvary's  Cross  to  make  pardon  possible,  rose  from 
the  dead,  and  is  to-day  a  living  Saviour,  and  has 
“all  power  in  heaven  and  on  earth”  (Matt.  28: 19) 
and  is  therefore  able  to  save  to  the  uttermost,  not 
merely  from  the  uttermost  but  to  the  uttermost  all 
those  who  come  unto  God  through  Him  (Heb. 
7:25)  ;  and  He  saves  us  from  all  the  slavery  of  sin. 
He  saves  us  from  sin’s  power  as  well  as  from  sin’s 
guilt.  That  is  what  He  came  to  do,  that  is  what 
He  does  do. 

Paul,  who  wrote  the  words  of  my  text,  knew  from 
personal  experience  the  power  of  Christ  Jesus  to 
save  not  merely  from  the  guilt  of  sin  but  to  save 
from  the  power  of  sin  as  well.  Paul  had  known  the 
bondage  of  sin,  the  awful,  grinding  slavery  of  sin. 
Pie  gives  us  a  leaf  from  his  autobiography  in  the 
7th  chapter  of  Romans.  He  tells  us  of  how  he  had 
found  the  law  of  God,  and  how  earnestly  he  had 
tried  to  keep  it,  and  how  utterly  he  had  failed.  He 
had  tried  to  break  away  from  sin.  The  struggle  as 
described  in  Romans  seven  was  a  hard  one,  a  deter- 


WHY  JESUS  CHRIST  CAME 


21 


mined  one,  but  it  resulted  in  utter  failure.  Paul 
tells  us  that  the  more  he  tried  to  break  away  from 
sin  the  more  helpless  he  found  himself  until  at  last, 
in  utter  despair,  he  cried,  “  O  wretched  man  that  I 
am!  who  shall  deliver  me  out  of  the  body  of  this 
death?”  He  seemed  to  himself  like  one  chained  for¬ 
ever  to  the  “  dead,”  stinking  “  body  ”  of  sin,  but 
when  he  cried,  “  Who  shall  deliver  me  from  the 
body  of  this  death  ”  he  got  his  answer  at  once. 
You  will  find  the  answer  in  the  next  verse,  “  I  thank 
God  through  Jesus  Christ  our  Lord  ”  (Rom. 

7:24, 25). 

Christ  Jesus  came  into  the  world  in  behalf  of  sin¬ 
ners.  He  came  to  save  sinners.  He  came  to  save 
them  from  the  guilt  and  penalty  and  power  of  sin. 
He  does  save  from  the  guilt  and  penalty  and  power 
of  sin  whoever  comes  to  Him  and  puts  his  trust  in 
Him.  He  will  save  any  sinner  who  will  believe  on 
Him,  who  will  just  put  their  case  in  His  hands.  He 
will  save  them  right  now.  He  will  not  save  anyone 
who  will  not  come  to  Him  and  come  as  a  sinner,  but 
He  will  save,  at  once,  freely,  and  fully  and  forever, 
every  man,  woman,  and  child  who  will  come  to  Him 
and  confess  that  they  are  sinners  and  put  their  trust 
in  Him  as  their  Saviour  from  the  guilt  and  power 
of  sin.  He  will  save  them  freely,  fully,  and  for¬ 
ever.  Will  you  let  Him  save  you?  If  any  man, 
woman,  or  child,  goes  out  of  this  building  to-night 
unsaved,  you  will  have  no  one  to  blame  but  your¬ 
self.  “  This  is  a  faithful  saying,  and  worthy  of  all 
acceptation,  that  Christ  Jesus  came  into  the  world 
to  save  sinners.”  Let  Him  save  you  right  now. 


II 


A  GOOD  MAN  WHO  WENT  TO  HELL  AND 
A  BAD  MAN  WHO  WENT  TO  HEAVEN 

“And  he  spake  also  this  parable  unto  certain  who 
trusted  in  themselves  that  they  were  righteous,  and 
set  all  others  at  nought:  Two  men  went  up  into  the 
temple  to  pray ;  the  one  a  Pharisee,  and  the  other  a 
publican.  The  Pharisee  stood  and  prayed  thus  with 
himself,  God,  I  thank  thee,  that  I  am  not  as  the 
rest  of  men,  extortioners,  unjust,  adulterers,  or  even 
as  this  publican.  I  fast  twice  in  the  week;  I  give 
tithes  of  all  that  I  get.  But  the  publican,  standing 
afar  off,  would  not  lift  up  so  much  as  his  eyes  unto 
heaven,  but  smote  his  breast,  saying,  God,  be  thou 
merciful  to  me,  a  sinner.  I  say  unto  you,  This  man 
went  down  to  his  house  justified  rather  than  the 
other:  for  everyone  that  exalt eth  himself  shall  be 
humbled;  but  he  that  humbleth  himself  shall  be 
exalted.” — Luke  18:9-14. 

SOME  of  you  will  think  I  have  this  subject 
twisted  and  that  it  ought  to  read,  “A  Good 
Man  who  went  to  Heaven  and  a  Bad  Man  who 
went  to  Hell;”  but  the  subject,  as  I  have  given  it,  is 
exactly  right.  Jesus  Christ  Himself  is  my  authority 
for  saying  that  this  good  man  went  to  hell  and  that 
this  bad  man  went  to  heaven.  He  has  given  us  the 
picture  of  this  good  man  and  of  this  bad  man, 

22 


A  GOOD  MAN  AND  A  BAD  MAN  23 


and  Jesus  Himself  is  responsible  for  the  statement 
that  the  good  man  was  lost  and  that  the  bad  man 
was  saved.  Let  me  read  you  our  Lord’s  own  words 
about  it,  Luke  18:9-14:  “And  he  spake  also  this 
parable  unto  certain  who  trusted  in  themselves  that 
they  were  righteous,  and  set  all  others  at  nought: 
Two  men  went  up  into  the  temple  to  pray;  the  one 
a  Pharisee,  and  the  other  a  publican.  The  Pharisee 
stood  and  prayed  thus  with  himself,  God,  I  thank 
thee,  that  I  am  not  as  the  rest  of  men,  extortioners, 
unjust,  adulterers,  or  even  as  this  publican.  I  fast 
twice  in  the  week;  I  give  tithes  of  all  that  I  get. 
But  the  publican,  standing  afar  off,  would  not  lift 
up  so  much  as  his  eyes  unto  heaven,  but  smote  his 
breast,  saying,  God,  be  thou  merciful  to  me,  a  sin¬ 
ner.  I  say  unto  you,  This  man  went  down  to  his 
house  justified  rather  than  the  other:  for  every  one 
that  exalteth  himself  shall  be  humbled;  but  he  that 
humbleth  himself  shall  be  exalted.”  Jesus  here 
definitely  declares  that  the  publican  “  went  down  to 
his  house  justified  ”  and  a  man  who  is  “  justified  ” 
before  God  is  saved,  he  is  sure  to  go  to  Heaven,  and 
on  the  other  hand  Jesus  Christ  tells  us  with  equal 
plainness  that  the  Pharisee  went  down  to  his  house 
“unjustified”  and  a  man  who  is  unjustified  before 
God  is  sure  to  go  to  hell.  Now  let  us  look  at  the 
two  men  of  whom  our  Lord  Jesus  has  drawn  so 
graphic  and  so  instructive  a  picture  in  a  very  few 
but  very  telling  words. 

I.  The  Good  Man  Who  Went  to  Hell 

We  will  look  first  at  the  Good  Man  who  went  to 
Hell. 


24 


HOW  TO  BE  SAVED 


1.  We  notice  first  of  all  that,  this  man  who  was 
unjustified ,  and  therefore  went  to  hell,  was  a  moral 
man,  a  clean  man  in  his  personal  habits.  He  could 
look  right  up  into  the  face  of  God  Who  knows  our 
every  act,  our  secret  acts,  done  under  cover  of  the 
night  as  well  as  our  public  acts  open  for  all  to  see, 
and  our  secret  thoughts,  and  could  say,  “  I  am  not 
an  adulterer.  I  am  a  clean  man  morally.”  It  is  a 
good  thing  to  be  able  to  say  that.  Some  of  you  men 
here  to-night  could  not  say  it.  God  pity  you.  You 
might  say  it  to  me,  but  you  could  not  say  it  to  God, 
you  would  not  dare.  But  this  man  could  say  it  and 
say  it  to  God;  and  yet  he  was  not  saved. 

There  are  a  good  many  men  in  our  day  who  are 
building  their  hopes  for  eternity  on  their  personal 
purity,  on  the  fact  that  their  actions  have  not  been 
defiled  by  one  of  the  most  loathsome  of  all  sins  in 
any  of  its  forms,  that  their  speech  is  clean,  that  their 
imagination  is  pure,  that  they  never  read  the  vile 
literature  so  prevalent  in  our  day,  and  never  fre¬ 
quent  the  hellish  dens  called  “  vaudeville  shows  ” 
and  disgusting  movies  that  play  on  a  harp  with  a 
single  string,  and  that  string  a  rotten  old  string,  sex 
problems.  Well,  personal  purity  is  a  good  thing; 
but  it  won't  save  anyone,  and  if  that  is  all  you  have 
to  build  your  hope  of  Heaven  upon  you  are  lost  and 
headed  straight  for  hell. 

2.  In  the  second  place,  we  notice  that  this  man 
was  square  in  his  business  relations.  He  could  look 
up  into  God's  face  and  say,  “  I  am  not  an  extor¬ 
tioner,”  that  is,  a  money  grabber,  rapacious,  avari¬ 
cious.  This  man  did  not  charge  exorbitant  rates  of 
interest.  He  did  not  freeze  other  men  out  of  bush 


A  GOOD  MAN  AND  A  BAD  MAN  25 


ness.  He  did  not  oppress  his  employees  in  their 
wages.  He  did  not  cheat  his  customers.  It  is  a 
good  thing  to  be  able  to  say  what  this  man  said. 
There  are  a  good  many  men  here  to-night  who  could 
not  say  what  he  said.  Some  of  you  found  a  man 
in  a  corner  and  you  had  a  little  money  to  loan,  and 
oh,  how  you  squeezed  your  poor  brother.  Some  of 
you  needed  to  have  work  done  and  you  found  a  poor 
fellow  starving,  and  you  got  him  to  do  a  dollar’s 
worth  of  work  for  fifty  cents,  and  even  then  you 
called  it  “  charity.”  Some  of  you  took  advantage 
of  a  man’s  or  woman’s  ignorance  and  charged  them 
two  prices  for  what  you  sold  them  and  called  it 
“  business  enterprise,”  but  God  called  it  “  stealing.” 
Then  how  many  “  eminently  respectable  citizens  ” 
there  are  to-day  building  up  great  business  enter¬ 
prises  by  crowding  someone  else  to  the  wall.  Their 
vast  fortunes  are  built  upon  the  ruined  business  en¬ 
terprises  of  others,  upon  broken  hearts  and  desolated 
homes,  and  God  only  knows  what  all.  It  is  a  great 
thing  in  days  like  these  to  be  able  to  look  up  into 
God’s  face  and  say  what  this  man  said,  “  I  am  not 
rapacious,  I  am  not  a  money  grabber,  I  am  not  an 
extortioner;”  but  it  won’t  save  you.  This  man  could 
say  it;  but  Jesus  Christ  says  he  was  lost  for  all  that, 
that  he  went  down  to  his  house  unjustified,  that  he 
went  to  hell  after  all. 

There  are  a  good  many  here  to-night  who  are 
building  their  hopes  for  eternity  upon  the  fact  they 
are  perfectly  honest  in  business,  that  they  “  believe 
in  the  Square  Deal  ”  and  “  practise  the  Square 
Deal,”  themselves ;  but  if  you  have  no  better  founda- 


26 


HOW  TO  BE  SAVED 


tion  than  that  for  your  hope  of  Heaven  you  are  a 
lost  man. 

3.  We  notice  next  that  this  man  was  a  highly 
respected  member  of  society.  He  was  a  “  Pharisee 
The  Pharisees  were  a  highly  respected  class  of  so¬ 
ciety.  They  deserved  to  be.  Everybody  respected 
them.  They  were  the  one  class  of  society  that  was 
held  in  highest  esteem.  They  occupied  a  higher  place 
in  public  esteem  in  Jerusalem  than  the  members  of 
any  of  our  present  civic  organizations  for  moral  and 
political  uplift,  occupy  in  public  esteem  to-day;  and 
perhaps  with  better  reason.  When  the  ordinary  citi¬ 
zen  saw  a  Pharisee  going  down  the  street  he  would 
say  to  his  son,  “  There  goes  Mr.  Simon  Dikaios,  he 
is  a  Pharisee,  a  very  fine  man,  very  upright,  very 
pure,  and  thrifty  withal.  I  hope,  my  son,  that  when 
you  grow  up  you  will  be  like  him.” 

Now  it  is  a  fine  thing  to  be  highly  respected.  It 
is  an  exceedingly  pleasant  thing  to  be  well  thought 
of  and  to  be  well  spoken  of;  but  it  won’t  save  any¬ 
body,  it  won’t  keep  anybody  out  of  hell.  It  did  not 
save  this  man.  He  is  in  hell  now. 

A  good  many  men  think  God  must  think  well  of 
them  because  men  do.  This  is  a  great  mistake;  for 
Jesus  Christ  Himself  tells  us,  “  God  knoweth  your 
hearts :  for  that  which  is  highly  esteemed  among  men 
is  an  abomination  in  the  sight  of  God.”  (Luke 
16: 15.)  You  see  God  does  not  see  as  men  see,  for 
men  look  merely  upon  the  outward  appearance,  but 
God  looks  upon  the  heart.  I  once  heard  a  distin¬ 
guished  liberal  preacher  in  Chicago  say,  when  he  was 
preaching  a  funeral  sermon  over  a  man  who  was 
an  upright  man,  but  was  not  a  Christian,  and  the 


A  GOOD  MAN  AND  A  BAD  MAN  27 


brilliant,  liberal  preacher  wished  to  make  it  clear  that 
this  man  had  gone  to  Heaven;  I  say  I  heard  this 
liberal  preacher,  under  these  circumstances,  say, 
“Any  world  will  welcome  a  good  citizen,”  the  in¬ 
tended  implication  being  that  Heaven  would  welcome 
this  man  because  he  was  a  good  citizen,  though  he 
was  not  a  Christian  man.  I  am  afraid  this  liberal 
preacher  was  not  well  posted  about  the  heavenly 
world  and  the  conditions  upon  which  one  is  welcome 
there.  There  are  a  good  many  citizens  of  Los  An¬ 
geles,  highly  respected  gentlemen  like  our  friend  the 
Pharisee  of  the  text,  who  do  not  stand  the  slightest 
chance  of  spending  eternity  in  Heaven  unless  they 
do  something  that  they  have  never  done  yet. 

4.  Look  at  the  Pharisee  again,  This  man  sazv 
no  flaws  in  himself but  was  the  best  man  in  the 
world  in  his  own  estimation.  Speaking  to  God  he 
said,  “  I  thank  thee,  that  I  am  not  as  other  men  are.” 
(Luke  18:  11.)  Literally  translated,  what  he  said 
was,  “  I  thank  Thee,  that  I  am  not  as  the  rest  of 
men.”  He  divided  society  into  two  classes.  He  was 
in  one  class  all  alone,  and  all  “  the  rest  of  men  ” 
were  in  the  other  class.  He  was  good  and  all  the 
rest  of  men  were  bad;  and  there  he  stands  exclaim¬ 
ing,  “  I  thank  thee,  that  I  am  not  as  the  rest  of  men.” 
He  had  a  mighty  high  opinion  of  himself,  but  he 
went  to  hell  just  the  same. 

How  many  men  there  are  who  are  building  their 
hopes  of  Heaven  upon  their  inability  to  discover  any 
flaws  in  themselves.  “  I  do  not  see  what  I  need  of 
Christ,”  many  are  saying,  “  I  see  no  great  sins  in 
myself.  Jesus  Christ  may  do  for  the  drunkard,  the 
harlot,  the  thief  and  the  murderer,  but  what  do  I 


28 


HOW  TO  BE  SAVED 


need  of  Him?”  Well,  let  me  tell  you  what  need 
you  have  of  Jesus  Christ,  you  need  Him  to  save  you 
from  being  everlastingly  damned.  That  is  all,  but 
that  is  enough,  isn’t  it?  You  talk  quite  like  this 
Pharisee,  who,  our  Lord  Jesus  tells  us,  went  down 
to  his  house  unjustified,  was  lost  and  is  now  in 
hell. 

5.  Again,  This  Pharisee  was  a  religious  man. 
Every  Pharisee  was  very  religious,  and  this  par¬ 
ticular  Pharisee  was  especially  so.  All  Pharisees 
were  much  given  to  reading  the  Bible  and  other 
pious  books.  They  were  much  given  to  prayer  and 
religious  ceremonies.  This  particular  Pharisee  could 
tell  the  Lord  how  often  he  fasted  every  week ;  he 
fasted  twice  every  week.  He  fasted  far  more  fre¬ 
quently  than  the  law  required  of  him.  He  was  also 
perfectly  orthodox.  The  Pharisaical  party  was  the 
orthodox  party.  The  Sadducees  were  the  heretics. 
Now,  religious  ceremonies  are  good.  Praying  is 
good.  Fasting  is  good.  Orthodoxy  is  very  good. 
But  all  of  these  put  together  won’t  save  anyone,  they 
won’t  keep  anyone  out  of  Hell.  No,  in  all  this 
world’s  history  they  have  never  saved  one  single 
soul. 

There  are  many  depending  upon  these  things  as 
the  foundation  of  their  hope  of  Heaven.  “  Oh,  I 
am  quite  sure  I  will  go  to  Heaven,”  many  are  say¬ 
ing,  “For  I  pray  every  morning  and  every  night, 
I  read  the  Bible  every  day,  I  go  to  church  every 
Sunday,  I  fast  on  Fridays  and  through  Lent.  I  par¬ 
take  of  the  Sacrament  very  often,  I  am  orthodox 
in  my  creed,  very  orthodox.  I  believe  in  the  Verbal 
Inspiration  of  the  Bible  and  in  the  Virgin  Birth  of 


A  GOOD  MAN  AND  A  BAD  MAN  29 


our  Lord,  and  in  the  Real  Deity  of  the  Lord  Jesus, 
and  in  the  literal  Bodily  Resurrection,  and  in  the 
Atonement  by  the  Shed  Blood  of  Jesus  Christ,  and 
in  the  Premillennial  Coming  of  Christ,  I  believe  in 
endless  punishment.  Oh,  I  am  safe.”  Fine,  very 
fine ;  but  listen :  All  this  you  have  mentioned  does 
not  prove  that  you  are  saved,  that  you  are  headed 
for  Heaven.  Religion  is  a  good  thing,  a  very  good 
thing,  but  there  will  doubtless  be  very  many  men  and 
women  in  hell  who  were  very  religious  when  on 
earth,  and  very  orthodox,  too. 

6.  But  we  have  not  gotten  to  the  end  of  the  ex¬ 
cellencies  of  this  Pharisee  even  yet,  this  Pharisee 
was  a  generous  man.  He  could  tell  God  he  gave  a 
tenth  of  all  he  made.  It  is  a  good  thing  to  be  able 
to  say  that.  I  wonder  how  many  in  this  audience 
to-night  could  say,  “  I  give  a  tenth  of  all  I  get.”  I 
wish  more  of  you  could.  I  wish  it  for  your  own 
sakes.  I  wish  it  for  the  sake  of  the  poor.  I  wish 
it  for  Jesus  Christ’s  sake.  It  is  a  good  thing  to  be 
generous.  It  is  a  good  thing  to  give  away  one  dol¬ 
lar  in  every  ten  dollars  you  make,  ten  dollars  in 
every  hundred  dollars,  ten  thousand  dollars  in  every 
hundred  thousand  you  make.  Yes,  it  is  a  good 
thing,  a  mighty  fine  thing,  but  it  won’t  save  you. 
It  won’t  take  you  to  Heaven.  This  Pharisee  did 
it  and  he  was  lost  after  all.  He  went  to  hell  as 
straight  as  many  who  never  gave  a  penny. 

Do  you  not  think  that  this  Pharisee  was  a  pretty 
good  man,  as  men  go?  Was  he  not  in  many  im¬ 
portant  respects  a  most  exemplary  man?  But  he 
was  lost!  Jesus  Christ  distinctly  tells  us  he  went 
down  to  his  house  unjustified,  an  unforgiven  sinner. 


30 


HOW  TO  BE  SAVED 


under  the  wrath  of  God.  He  went  to  hell !  Why? 
For  precisely  the  same  reason  that  many  of  you  here 
to-night  are  lost  and  on  the  road  to  hell. 

1.  First  of  all,  He  went  to  hell  because  he  trusted 
in  himself.  In  verse  nine  we  read  that  Jesus  spoke 
this  parable,  “  Unto  certain  who  trusted  in  them¬ 
selves  that  they  were  righteous.”  This  man  counted 
up  his  virtues,  his  clean  life,  his  honesty  in  business, 
the  high  esteem  in  which  he  was  held  in  the  com¬ 
munity,  his  own  high  estimation  of  himself,  his 
religiousness,  his  generosity  in  giving,  and  he  put  his 
trust  in  these  good  qualities  of  his  own.  And  any 
man  who  puts  his  trust  in  his  own  virtues  and  good¬ 
ness,  and  many  righteous  acts,  or  in  himself  in  any 
way,  will  be  lost;  he  will  spend  eternity  in  hell,  no 
matter  how  good  he  is. 

2.  In  the  second  place,  This  man  went  to  hell  be¬ 

cause  he  despised  others.  We  read  in  verse  nine  that 
Jesus  spoke  “  This  parable  unto  certain  who  trusted 
in  themselves  that  they  were  righteous,  and  despised 
others  ”  He  thanked  God  he  was  “  not  as  the  rest 
of  men,”  or  “  even  as  this  publican,”  who  stood  near 
him  praying.  There  are  many  like  this  man.  There 
are  many  here  to-night.  You  despise  the  drunkard. 
You  despise  the  rum  seller,  you  despise  the  bootleg¬ 
ger,  you  despise  the  harlot,  you  despise  the  criminal. 
You  think  that  you  are  essentially  different  from  all 
these ;  but  God  has  plainly  said  in  His  Own  Word, 
“  There  is  no  difference :  for  all  have  sinned,  and 
come  short  of  the  glory  of  God”  (Rom.  3:22,  23). 
And  God  also  says  in  I  John  1:8,  10,  “If  we  say 
that  we  have  no  sin,  we  deceive  ourselves,  and  the 
truth  is  not  in  us.  .  .  .  If  we  say  that  we  have 


A  GOOD  MAN  AND  A  BAD  MAN  31 


not  sinned,  we  make  God  a  liar,  and  His  Word  is 
not  in  us.”  You  will  be  lost  unless  you  get  over  this 
trusting  in  yourselves  and  despising  others. 

3.  In  the  third  place,  and  principally,  This  man 
went  to  hell  because  he  did  not  acknoztdedge  him¬ 
self  to  be  a  sinner.  There  is  not  one  word  or  hint 
of  confession  of  sin  in  all  his  prayer.  There  is  no 
pardon  of  sin  possible  without  confession  that  we  are 
sinners.  No  man  who  will  not  definitely  confess 
himself  to  be  a  sinner  will  ever  enter  Heaven.  God 
tells  us  this  over  and  over  again  in  both  the  Old 
Testament  and  the  New  Testament,  for  example,  He 
says  in  Frov.  28:13,  “He  that  cover eth  his  sins 
shall  not  prosper;  but  whoso  confessetli  and  forsak- 
eth  them  shall  obtain  mercy.”  If  you  will  not  take 
the  sinner’s  place  before  God  and  confess  yourself 
a  sinner,  there  is  no  possibility  of  your  escaping 
hell. 

4.  In  the  fourth  place,  This  man  went  to  hell  be¬ 
cause  he  did  not  cry  to  God  for  mercy.  He  told 
God  how  good  he  was.  He  considered  himself  as 
a  saint  richly  deserving  God’s  admiration,  not  as  a 
sinner  sorely  needing  God’s  mercy  and  pardon. 
There  are  a  good  many  like  him.  There  are  a  good 
many  men  in  Los  Angeles  who  might  have  sat  for 
this  picture  of  “  the  Man  who  Went  to  Hell  ”  which 
our  Lord  Jesus  has  drawn  in  our  text;  and  all  such 
persons  are  lost.  Every  man  is  a  sinner  needing 
pardon,  and  no  matter  how  good  a  man  may  be,  or 
may  fancy  he  is,  he  will  never  be  saved,  he  will  never 
get  God’s  favour,  he  will  never  be  pardoned,  he  will 
not  escape  an  everlasting  hell  until  he  gets  down  be¬ 
fore  God  and  honestly  cries  to  God  for  mercy. 


32 


HOW  TO  BE  SAVED 


It  was  a  very  simple  way  in  which  this  good  man 
was  lost,  just  by  not  taking  his  right  place  before 
God  as  a  sinner,  and  crying  to  God  for  mercy,  and 
that  is  the  way  many  of  the  best  men  and  women 
in  this  house  are  being  lost  to-night.  Wake  up! 
Wake  up,  before  it  is  too  late !  Wake  up  now,  to 
the  fact  that  you  are  a  sinner,  or  you  will  wake  up 
some  day  in  hell !  Cry  to  God  to-night  for  mercy 
and  for  forgiveness  of  your  many  sins,  or  you  will 
cry  some  day  for  a  drop  of  water  to  cool  your  swollen 
tongue  when  you  are  in  anguish  in  the  flames 
of  hell. 

II.  The  Bad  Man  Who  Went  to  Heaven 

Now,  let  us  look  for  a  few  minutes  at  the  Bad 
Man  who  was  saved,  the  Bad  Man  who  is  now  in 
Heaven. 

i.  In  the  first  place,  he  was  an  immoral  man . 
There  can  be  no  doubt  that  he  was  an  immoral  man. 
The  business  he  was  in  necessitated  his  being  im¬ 
moral.  A  man  could  not  be  honest  in  the  business 
in  which  this  man  was  engaged.  He  was  a  petty 
tax  gatherer.  The  Roman  Government  farmed  out 
the  taxes  of  a  Province  as  a  whole,  and  the  collector 
for  the  Province  had  to  get  his  money  back  as  best 
he  could,  by  whatever  means  he  could,  and  in  addi¬ 
tion  had  to  get  a  profit  for  himself.  He  farmed  out 
his  province  in  sections  and  the  collector  of  taxes 
of  each  section  had  to  get  his  rake-off.  This  man 
in  turn  farmed  out  his  section  to  the  petty  tax  gath¬ 
erers,  the  publicans,  and  they  had  to  get  their  rake- 
off.  Extortion  and  crookedness  of  all  kinds  were 
necessary  to  make  the  business  of  a  publican  pay.  A 


A  GOOD  MAN  AND  A  BAD  MAN  33 


man  could  not  be  honest  in  that  business,  and  he  was 
necessarily  an  outcast  from  good  society,  and  was 
classed  with  sinners.  “  Publicans  and  sinners,”  was 
the  phrase  constantly  used  concerning  publicans. 

2.  In  the  second  place,  This  man  was  looked 
down  upon  by  his  fellow-men.  While  the  Pharisee 
was  the  man  who  was  universally  held  in  highest 
esteem,  the  publican  was  the  man  who  was  univer¬ 
sally  held  in  utter  contempt.  Listen,  the  fact  that 
you  belong  to  a  class  everyone  despises  is  no  proof 
whatever  that  you  can  never  enter  Heaven. 

3.  In  the  third  place,  This  man  saw  many  faults 
in  himself.  In  his  own  eyes  he  was  the  chief  of  sin¬ 
ners.  While  the  Pharisee  thought  himself  the  best 
man  in  the  world,  the  publican  thought  himself  the 
worst.  While  the  Pharisee  thanked  God  he  was 
“  not  as  the  rest  of  men,”  the  publican  regarded  him¬ 
self  as  “  The  sinner”  (Luke  18:  13  R.  V.  margin), 
the  one  preeminent  sinner. 

The  fact  that  a  man  sees  himself  as  a  great  sinner, 
even  the  greatest  of  sinners,  is  no  reason  for  his 
thinking  he  cannot  get  to  Heaven.  Paul  said,  “  This 
is  a  faithful  saying,  and  worthy  of  all  acceptation, 
that  Christ  Jesus  came  into  the  world  to  save  sin¬ 
ners;  of  whom  I  am  chief.”  Yet  Paul  is  in  Heaven 
to-day.  When  they  cut  off  his  head  in  Rome,  his 
spirit  departed  to  be  with  Christ  in  Glory.  (Phil. 
1:23.)  There  will  be  a  great  company  of  men  and 
women  in  Heaven  who,  when  here  on  earth,  saw 
themselves  as  the  chief  of  sinners. 

4.  In  the  fourth  place,  “  This  publican  who  went 
to  Heaven  had  not  been  a  religious  man.”  The  pub¬ 
licans  were  an  irreligious,  careless,  godless  lot.  We 


34 


HOW  TO  BE  SAVED 


see  him  in  this  picture  becoming  religious,  going 
“  up  into  the  temple  to  pray,”  but  it  was  something 
new.  He  had  been  disdainful  of  the  religion  of  his 
fathers  or  he  would  never  have  been  in  the  business 
he  was  in.  Only  the  man  who  put  the  getting  of 
money  before  the  religion  of  his  fathers  would  con¬ 
sent  to  be  a  publican. 

How  often  we  look  at  the  careless,  irreligious 
crowd,  the  men  and  women  who  seldom  or  never  go 
to  church,  who  seldom  or  never  pray,  who  never 
read  the  Bible,  who  have  never  been  baptized  and 
joined  the  church,  and  think,  “  there  is  no  hope  for 
that  crowd.”  Oh,  yes,  there  is.  This  once  utterly 
irreligious  publican  is  now  in  Heaven.  There  are 
hosts  of  men  and  women  in  Los  Angeles  to-night 
who  never  darken  church  doors,  who  will  some  day 
turn  around  and  get  to  Heaven,  if  you  and  I  do  our 
duty.  I  have  gone  to  a  lumber  town  in  Wisconsin 
where  there  was  not  a  single  church,  but  where  there 
were  twenty-two  saloons,  and  have  spoken  on  the 
streets  and  in  an  old  saloon,  and  have  seen  a  lot  of 
these  hard,  old,  irreligious  toughs  saved,  and  the 
former  keeper  of  that  very  saloon  was  saved.  I 
have  seen  a  tough  old  sporting  man,  whose  mother 
before  him  ran  a  sporting  house  in  Omaha,  and  he 
had  never  been  in  a  Protestant  church  before  in  his 
life,  and  he  started  on  that  very  day  to  spend  the 
afternoon  and  night  gambling,  brought  into  our 
church  in  Chicago  and  saved  before  he  got  out.  I 
have  had  a  man  call  me  out- of  this  pulpit  to  speak 
to  me  under  that  gallery  yonder,  a  man  who  had 
been  a  gambler  and  crook  all  his  life,  and  now  he 
wanted  to  take  Christ  and  could  not  wait  until  I  had 


A  GOOD  MAN  AND  A  BAD  MAN  35 


preached  my  sermon.  The  irreligious  gang  are  often 
more  hopeful  material  to  work  on  than  the  religious 
gang,  and  a  man  may  be  as  bad  a  heretic  as  this  pub¬ 
lican  probably  was ;  yes,  he  may  have  been  a  rank, 
rampant,  raging  infidel  or  agnostic  up  to  the  present 
moment,  and  then  get  saved  and  start  for  Heaven 
and  Eternal  Glory  before  this  meeting  is  over. 

I  have  seen  a  man  who  was  a  rank  and  bitter  in¬ 
fidel,  who  had  not  been  inside  a  church  for  twelve 
years,  come  into  our  building  and  be  beautifully 
saved  before  he  got  out,  and  that  man  was  preach¬ 
ing  the  Gospel  within  a  year. 

One  of  the  brightest  converts  we  had  in  Kansas 
City  while  I  preached  there  a  short  time  ago  was  a 
very  intelligent  university  man  who  the  first  time  he 
came  to  hear  me  was  an  utter  agnostic. 

I  once  saw  a  man  who  was  ninety-two  years  old 
and  who  had  not  been  inside  a  church  for  eighty 
years,  come  into  a  meeting  like  this,  where  I  was 
preaching,  and  go  out  a  saved  man. 

5.  In  the  fifth  place,  This  man  who  is  now  in 
Heaven ,  was  a  miserable  old  skinflint.  Money  was 
his  god.  He  got  all  he  could  by  hook  or  by  crook, 
and  kept  all  he  got.  I  admit  that  a  man  held  in 
the  power  of  the  love  of  gold,  is  almost  the  hardest 
man  there  is  to  save,  far  harder  than  a  drunkard,  a 
gambler  or  a  harlot ;  but  it  can  be  done. 

This  bad  man  who  Jesus  Christ  tells  us  went  to 
his  house  justified,  and  so  beyond  a  doubt  got  to 
Heaven  and  is  there  now,  was  certainly  a  tough  cus¬ 
tomer;  but  he  was  saved.  What  did  he  do  that 
brought  him  salvation  in  spite  of  all  that  was  against 
him? 


36 


HOW  TO  BE  SAVED 


1.  First  of  all,  He  took  his  right  place  before 
God ,  he  took  his  place  as  a  sinner.  That  is  what 
anyone  must  do  and  everyone  must  do  in  order  to 
be  saved.  God’s  Word  is  as  plain  as  day  about  that. 
God  says  in  a  passage  already  quoted,  I  Jno.  i :  8,  9, 
“If  we  say  that  we  have  no  sin,  we  deceive  our¬ 
selves,  and  the  truth  is  not  in  us.  If  we  confess  our 
sins,  he  is  faithful  and  just  to  forgive  us  our  sins, 
and  to  cleanse  us  from  all  unrighteousness.” 

There  is  not  a  man  or  woman  on  earth  who  will 
ever  get  to  Heaven  unless  they  own  up  to  what  God 
says  in  this  Book,  namely,  that  “  we  have  all  sinned 
and  come  short  of  the  glory  of  God”  (Rom.  3:23), 
and  get  right  down  before  God  and  confess  that  they 
are  poor,  miserable,  vile,  worthless,  hell-deserving 
sinners.  Jesus  Christ  can  save  sinners,  even  the 
worst,  but  He  cannot  save  anyone  but  sinners,  and 
sinners  who  confess  fully  and  frankly  that  they  are 
sinners.  Some  of  you  here  to-night  will  spend  eter¬ 
nity  in  hell  for  that  very  reason,  just  because  you 
won’t  own  up  that  you  are  sinners.  You  know  you 
are,  but  you  won’t  admit  it,  you  seek  to  conceal  it, 
or  excuse  it  or  palliate  it,  and  before  you  get  through 
you  have  tried  to  make  out  that  you  are  a  pretty  good 
sort  after  all.  Listen!  You  are  bound  straight  for 
hell.  You  are  taking  the  shortest  and  swiftest  cut 
to  that  awful  place. 

2.  In  the  second  place,  This  man  asked  for  mercy. 
He  saw  there  was  only  one  hope  for  him  and  that 
was  in  the  unmerited  favour  of  God.  Any  man  can 
be  saved  by  grace.  No  one  can  be  saved  in  any 
other  way. 

3.  In  the  third  place,  This  man  recognized  that 


A  GOOD  MAN  AND  A  BAD  MAN  37 


there  was  no  mercy  to  be  had  except  on  the  ground 
of  shed  blood .  That  comes  out  in  the  literal  transla¬ 
tion  of  the  word  translated,  44  be  merciful.”  Literally 
translated,  it  means,  44  be  propitiated.”  Listen, 
friends,  very  carefully  right  now :  There  is  no 
salvation  or  pardon  to  be  had  by  anybody  except  on 
the  ground  of  the  shed  blood,  the  atoning  blood  of 
Jesus  Christ.  Listen  to  what  God  says,  44  Without 
shedding  of  blood  there  is  no  remission”  (Heb. 
9:22).  Listen  again,  44A11  have  sinned  and  come 
short  of  the  glory  of  God;  being  justified  freely  by 
his  grace  through  the  redemption  that  is  in  Christ 
Jesus:  whom  God  set  forth  to  be  a  propitiation, 
through  faith,  in  his  blood ,  to  show  his  righteousness 
because  of  the  passing  over  of  the  sins  done  afore¬ 
time,  in  the  forbearance  of  God”  (Rom.  3:23-25). 
Listen  again,  44  Christ  redeemed  us  from  the  curse  of 
the  law,  having  become  a  curse  for  us:  for  it  is  writ¬ 
ten,  Cursed  is  everyone  that  hangeth  upon  a  tree  ” 
(Gal.  3:  13).  There  is  pardon,  complete  pardon,  for 
the  vilest  sinner  that  ever  walked  this  earth,  on  the 
ground  of  the  shed  blood  of  Jesus  Christ:  there  is 
no  pardon  for  anyone  on  earth  in  any  other  way. 
I  was  vile  enough,  God  knows,  so  vile  as  God  and 
I  alone  know,  but  my  sins  are  all  forgiven.  They 
are  all  blotted  out.  Thank  God,  I  know  that.  If  I 
should  die  to-night  I  would  be  in  Heaven  before  you 
were  sure  I  was  dead,  but  it  is  only  on  the  ground 
of  the  shed  blood  of  Jesus  Christ.  Nobody  will  ever 
get  to  Heaven  on  any  other  ground.  Our  Lord  Jesus 
Himself  says,  in  John  14:6,  44 1  am  the  way,  and  the 
truth,  and  the  life.  No  one  cometh  unto  the  Father 
but  by  me.”  The  Unitarian  denies  the  atoning  blood 


38 


HOW  TO  BE  SAVED 


and  he  will  not  and  cannot  get  to  Heaven  until  he 
changes  his  position  on  that  matter.  The  Christian 
Scientist  denies  the  atoning  blood,  and  not  a  Chris¬ 
tian  Scientist  can  get  to  Heaven  until  he  gives  up 
that  damning  error.  It  is  true,  many  call  themselves 
Christian  Scientists  who  are  not  really  so,  and  they 
do  not  realize  that  Mrs.  Eddy  denied  and  sneered  at 
the  atoning  blood,  but  she  did,  and  a  real  “  Christian 
Scientist  ”  cannot  get  to  Heaven  until  he  recognizes 
his  error  at  that  point.  Many  of  our  professedly 
orthodox  people  in  these  days  deny  the  atoning 
blood,  and  not  one  of  them  will  get  to  Heaven  until 
they  give  up  that  damning  error.  There  is  a  way  to 
Heaven  open  to  the  vilest  sinner  that  ever  walked 
this  earth,  if  he  will  simply  recognize  the  fact  he  is 
a  sinner  and  accept  God’s  testimony  about  Jesus 
Christ  and  His  atoning  blood,  and  trust  God  to  for¬ 
give  him  on  the  ground  of  the  shed  blood  of  Jesus 
Christ.  Not  one  man  or  woman  on  earth  can  be 
saved  in  any  other  way. 

There  are  a  great  number  of  you  here  to-night 
who  are  trusting  in  the  very  same  things  that  landed 
the  Pharisee  of  our  text  in  hell,  and  unless  you  stop 
trusting  in  these  things  you  will  soon  land  there 
too.  You  are  neglecting  to  do  what  the  Pharisee 
neglected  to  do,  and  you  will  wind  up  where  he  has 
already  wound  up,  unless  you  change  your  tactics 
pretty  quickly.  But  listen!  The  Door  of  Heaven 
stands  open  to-night  to  anyone  here  who  will  do 
what  the  publican  did, 

First.  Take  your  place  as  a  sinner  before  God. 

Second.  Cry  to  God  for  mercy. 

Third.  Recognize  that  there  is  no  mercy  to  be 


A  GOOD  MAN  AND  A  BAD  MAN  39 


had  except  on  the  ground  of  the  shed  blood  of  Jesus 
Christ. 

Fourth.  Believe  to-night  God’s  testimony  about 
that  blood,  that  by  the  shedding  of  Christ’s  blood, 
your  sins  were  all  atoned  for,  and  trust  God  to  for¬ 
give  you  and  save  you  to-night,  because  Jesus  Christ 
died  in  your  place.  Do  that,  and  you  are  sure  to  get 
to  Heaven.  Who  will  do  it  right  now? 

Every  one  in  this  audience  to-night  will  leave  this 
building  “justified  ”  or  unjustified,  on  the  direct  road 
to  Heaven  or  on  the  direct  road  to  hell.  It  depends 
entirely  upon  whether  you  do  what  the  Pharisee,  the 
good  man  who  went  to  hell,  did,  or  what  the  pub¬ 
lican,  the  bad  man  who  went  to  Heaven,  did.  It  is 
for  each  one  of  you  to  decide  for  yourself  which  you 
will  do.  How  will  you  decide? 


Ill 


A  WONDERFUL  CONTRAST :  “  UNDER  THE 
CURSE  OF  GOD  ”  OR  “  A  CHILD  OF 
GOD.”  WHICH  ARE  YOU? 


“For  as  many  as  are  of  the  works  of  the  law  are 
under  a  curse :  for  it  is  written ,  Cursed  is  everyone 
who  continueth  not  in  all  things  that  are  written  in 
the  Book  of  the  Law,  to  do  them.” — Galatians 
3:  10,  R.  V. 


B 


(t  ~  UT  as  many  as  received  him,  to  them  gave 
he  the  right  to  become  the  children  of  God, 
even  to  them  that  believe  on  his  name” — 
John  i  :  12. 

What  a  sermon  these  two  passages  preach  when 
thus  placed  side  by  side?  They  need  little  comment. 
They  tell  their  own  story  and  ought  to  produce  their 
own  effect. 


I.  All  Who  Are  of  the  Works  of  the  Law, 
Under  the  Curse  of  God 

Let  us  look  first  at  the  dark  side  of  the  contrast, 
Gal.  3:10,  “  For  as  many  as  are  of  the  works  of 
the  laiv  are  under  a  curse:  for  it  is  written,  Cursed 
is  everyone  who  continueth  not  in  all  things  that  are 
written  in  the  Book  of  the  Law,  to  do  them.”  Every 
man  who  is  “  Of  the  works  of  the  law,”  rests  under 
a  curse. 


40 


A  WONDERFUL  CONTRAST 


41 


I.  Here  a  question  of  vital  importance  arises. 
What  Is  Meant  by  Being  of  the  Works  of  the  Law I 
The  context  in  which  the  words  are  found  answers 
the  question  clearly  and  definitely.  To  be  “  of  works 
of  the  law  ”  is  to  be  seeking  the  favour  of  God  and 
consequent  salvation,  life  and  blessing  by  keeping  the 
law  of  God ;  to  be  seeking  salvation,  life  and  blessing 
by  our  own  good  deeds;  to  be  seeking  the  favour  of 
God  by  our  own  righteousness ;  to  be  seeking  “  salva¬ 
tion  by  character  ” ;  it  is  to  be  seeking  salvation  as 
something  due  us  because  of  our  own  righteous 
works,  instead  of  seeking  it  as  a  “  free  gift  of  God  ” 
by  the  “  grace  ”  of  God,  the  unmerited  favour  of 
God.  Those  who  are  “  of  the  works  of  the  law  ” 
are  all  those  who  are  seeking  the  favour  of  God  and 
His  blessing  and  His  salvation  by  their  own  good 
deeds,  by  their  own  righteousness,  by  their  own 
character;  and  as  many  as  are  doing  this  are  under 
a  curse.  “  Everyone  ”  who  is  doing  this,  every  man 
and  woman  here  to-night  who  is  seeking  “  salvation 
by  character,”  seeking  salvation  on  the  ground  of 
anything  that  you  yourself  are  or  do,  is  “  under  a 
curse.”  So  God  Himself  declares,  and  therefore  we 
may  be  sure  it  is  true,  in  spite  of  all  the  reasonings 
and  philosophizings  of  men,  even  though  those  men 
are  leaders  of  thought  in  this  “  Wonderful  Twentieth 
Century  ” :  wonderful  in  the  self-satisfied  conceit  of 
its  “  Scientists  ”  and  “  Philosophers  ”  and  essayists 
and  novelists,  if  in  nothing  else.  Listen  again  to 
God’s  Own  Words:  “As  many  as  are  of  the  works 
of  the  law  are  under  a  curse:  for  it  is  written, 
Cursed  is  everyone  who  continueth  not  in  all  things 


42 


HOW  TO  BE  SAVED 


that  are  written  in  the  Book  of  the  Law,  to  do 
them”  (Gal.  3:10,  R.  V.). 

2.  But,  Why  are  Those  Who  are  “  Of  Works 
of  Law  ”  “  Under  a  Curse  ”?  It  is  perfectly  proper 
for  us  to  ask  that  question,  and  God  has  been 
pleased  to  answer  it  even  before  we  ask  it.  It  is 
answered  right  here  in  our  text,  “  As  many  as  are 
the  works  of  the  law,  are  under  a  curse :  for  it  is 
written,  Cursed  is  everyone  who  continueth  not  in 
all  things  that  are  written  in  the  Book  of  the  Law 
to  do  them The  reason  why  those  who  are  u  Of 
works  of  law  are  under  a  curse  ”  is  because  the  law, 
in  order  to  get  its  blessing  and  the  blessing  of  the 
Author  of  the  law,  that  is  God,  demands  absolutely 
perfect  obedience.  The  law  says,  “  Keep  me  per¬ 
fectly  and  you  shall  be  blessed,  keep  me  perfectly 
and  you  shall  live;  but  break  me  at  any  point  and 
you  shall  die.  He  that  doeth  these  things  shall  live 
by  them,  but  cursed  is  everyone  who  continueth  not 
in  all  things  that  are  written  in  the  Book  of  the  Law 
to  do  them,”  and  there  is  only  one  member  of  the 
human  race  who  has  ever  perfectly  kept  the  law  of 
God,  and  that  Person  is  Jesus  Christ.  So  no  man 
but  Jesus  Christ  can  find  life  by  his  own  doing,  no 
man  but  Jesus  Christ  can  be  “saved  by  character.” 
To  talk  about  anyone  but  Jesus  Christ  being  saved 
by  character  is  to  talk  the  sheerist  nonsense.  If  any 
of  us  should  keep  the  Law  of  God  perfectly,  abso¬ 
lutely  perfectly,  from  the  hour  of  our  birth  to  the 
hour  of  our  death,  we  would  thereby  obtain  the 
favour  of  God  and  win  Eternal  Life  by  our  own 
doing,  by  our  own  character,  but  not  one  of  us  has 


A  WONDERFUL  CONTRAST 


43 


ever  done  it.  No  human  being  but  Jesus  Christ  has 
ever  done  it. 

The  moment  any  man,  woman  or  child  breaks  the 
Law  of  God  at  any  smallest  point,  that  moment 
“  Salvation  by  character,”  salvation  by  our  own 
doing,  becomes  an  absolute  impossibility.  And  every 
man,  woman  and  child  has  already  broken  the  Law 
of  God  at  some  point,  and  therefore  if  we  are  seek¬ 
ing  God’s  favour  by  our  own  good  deeds,  by  our 
own  righteousness,  by  our  own  character,  *we  are 
“  Under  a  curse.”  No  man  here  to-night  can  stand 
up  and  say,  “  I  have  kept  the  Law  of  God  per¬ 
fectly.  I  never  broke  God’s  law  at  any  point.” 
There  is  not  a  man  or  woman  here  to-night  but  has 
not  only  broken  God’s  law  but  broken  the  first  and 
greatest  commandment  of  God  at  some  time.  What 
is  the  first  and  greatest  commandment  of  God’s 
law?  Listen  to  our  Lord  Jesus’  own  answer  to  that 
question,  Matt.  22:37,  38,  “And  Jesus  said  unto 
him,  Thou  shalt  love  the  Lord  thy  God  with  all  thy 
heart,  and  with  all  thy  soul,  and  with  all  thy  mind. 
This  is  the  first  and  great  commandment.” 

Who  here  to-night  can  say,  “  I  have  always  kept 
that  commandment,  I  have  always  put  God  first  in 
everything,  I  have  always  put  God  first  in  business, 
I  have  always  put  God  first  in  politics,  I  have  always 
put  God  first  in  home  life,  I  have  always  put  God 
first  in  social  life,  I  have  always  put  God  first  in 
pleasure,  I  have  always  put  God  first  in  study,  I  have 
always  put  God  first  in  everything  ”  ?  Who  can  say 
it?  Be  honest  now,  be  honest  with  yourself,  be 
honest  with  God.  You  know  you  cannot  say  ft. 
Every  one  of  us  has  broken  this  great  and  first  com- 


u 


HOW  a?0  BE  SAVED 


mandment.  There  is,  then,  no  hope  for  anyone  of 
us  on  the  ground  of  “  the  law,”  no  hope  for  anyone 
of  us  on  the  ground  of  our  doing,  no  hope  for  any¬ 
one  of  us  on  the  ground  of  our  own  character  or 
morality  or  merit.  “As  many  as  are  of  the  works 
of  the  law  are  under  a  curse:  for  it  is  written, 
Cursed  is  everyone  who  continueth  not  in  all  things 
that  are  written  in  the  Book  of  the  Law,  to  do 
them.”  If  we  cannot  get  out  of  the  sphere  of  the 
law  into  some  other  sphere,  into  the  sphere  of  Grace, 
we  are  doomed,  and  will  ultimately  be  damned. 

How  utterly  foolish,  then,  is  the  man  who  expects 
to  be  saved  by  the  law,  by  his  own  good  deeds,  and 
win  Eternal  Life  by  his  own  good  character  or  by 
his  own  good  deeds.  “  For  as  many  as  are  of  the 
works  of  the  law  are  under  a  curse :  for  it  is  written, 
Cursed  is  everyone  who  continueth  not  in  all  things 
that  are  written  in  the  Book  of  the  Law,  to  do 
them.” 

Every  man  here  to-night  who  is  counting  on  his 
own  good  deeds,  on  his  own  morality,  on  his  own 
good  character,  to  recommend  him  to  God’s  favour, 
is  “  Under  a  curse.” 

II.  All  Who  Receive  Jesus  Christ,  Children 

of  God 

Now  let  us  turn  to  the  other  side,  the  bright  side 
of  the  contrast,  Jno.  1:12:  “But  as  many  as  re¬ 
ceived  him,  to  them  gave  he  the  right  to  become  the 
children  of  God,  even  to  them  that  believe  on  his 
name.”  The  first  side  of  the  contrast  is  very  dark, 
dark  as  midnight,  pitch  dark,  but  the  other  side  of 
the  contrast  is  very  bright,  bright  as  the  full  noon- 


A  WONDERFUL  CONTRAST 


45 


time  sunlight  of  the  eternal  day.  While  “every 
man  who  is  of  works  of  law,”  every  man  who  is  de¬ 
pending  upon  his  own  deeds  and  his  own  goodness 
for  salvation,  every  man  out  of  Christ,  is  “  Under  a 
curse”;  on  the  other  hand,  every  man  who  has 
thrown  away  all  confidence  in  himself  and  his  own 
doing  and  his  own  character,  and  who  has  accepted 
Jesus  Christ,  is  given  the  “  power  to  become  a  child 
of  God.”  The  word  translated,  “  power  ”  in  the 
authorized  version  of  this  verse  (Jno.  1 :  12)  means 
more  than  the  sense  that  we  usually  give  to  the  word 
“  power.”  It  means  the  “  authority  ”  or  the  “  right.” 
The  one  who  receives  Jesus  Christ,  the  Incarnate 
Word  of  God,  has  not  merely  the  ability  to  become 
a  child  of  God,  but  he  has  the  God-given  authority 
to  become  a  child  of  God.  It  is  the  Divinely  be¬ 
stowed  prerogative  of  everyone  who  receives  Christ 
Jesus,  to  call  himself  a  “  Child  of  God.”  As  John 
puts  it  in  his  first  epistle,  I  Jno.  3:1:  “Behold, 
what  manner  of  love  the  father  hath  bestowed  upon 
us  (that  is  upon  believers  in  Jesus  Christ,  those  who 
have  received  Jesus  Christ),  that  we  should  be  called 
the  children  of  God;  and  such  we  are.” 

There  is  just  one  condition  of  attaining  to  this 
immeasurably  exalted  authority  prerogative  and 
honour  of  becoming  a  “  Child  of  God,”  and  that  is 
receiving  Jesus  Christ.  Whosoever,  anybody  and 
everybody  who,  receives  Jesus  Christ  the  Son  of 
God,  instantly  becomes  himself  a  child  of  God.  It 
matters  not  what  his  past  history  may  have  been, 
he  may  have  been  a  very  bad  man  or  he  may  have 
been  a  very  good  man,  he  may  have  been  a  very  re¬ 
ligious  man  or  he  may  have  been  an  utterly  godless 


46 


HOW  TO  BE  SAVED 


and  profane  man,  he  may  have  been  very  orthodox, 
an  intelligent  believer  in  all  the  great  fundamental 
doctrines  of  our  faith,  or  he  may  have  been  an  utter 
heretic  or  rank  infidel,  but  the  moment  he  receives 
Jesus  Christ,  he  instantly  receives  authority  to  be¬ 
come  a  child  of  God.  “  But  as  many  as  received 
him,  to  them  gave  he  the  right  to  become  the  chil¬ 
dren  of  God,  even  to  them  that  believe  on  his  name  99 
(Jno.  1:12).  Any  man  or  woman  in  this  audience 
to-night  can  get  the  God-given  “  right  ”  to  become 
a  child  of  God  in  an  instant.  All  you  have  to  do  is 
to  receive  Jesus  Christ. 

2.  What  does  it  mean  to  “  receive  ”  Jesus 
Christ?  We  need  to  be  very  clear  and  very  sure 
about  this.  The  Greek  word  translated,  “  receive  ” 
means  simply  “  to  take  ”  or  “  to  take  to  oneself,”  to 
receive  (or,  accept)  what  is  offered.  So,  then,  to 
receive  Jesus  Christ  means  to  take  Jesus  Christ  to 
ourselves,  to  take  Him  to  be  to  ourselves  all  that  He 
came  into  this  world  to  be  to  us. 

What  did  Jesus  Christ  come  into  this  world 
to  be  to  anyone  who  would  take  Him?  The 
Bible  answers  that  question  with  great  plainness  and 
great  definiteness. 

1.  First  of  all,  Jesus  Christ  came  into  this  world 
to  be  our  Sin-Bearer,  the  One  who  bore  our  sins  in 
our  place,  so  that  we  would  not  have  to  bear  them 
ourselves;  and  to  pay  the  penalty  of  our  sins.  We 
read  in  the  twenty-ninth  verse  of  this  same  chapter 
from  which  our  text  is  taken,/*  Behold,  the  lamb  of 
God  that  taketh  away  the  sin  of  the  world!” 

So  then,  to  receive  Jesus  Christ  means  to  take 
Jesus  Christ  to  he  our  Sin-Bearer,  the  One  who  paid 


A  WONDERFUL  CONTRAST 


47 


the  penalty  of  our  sins  for  us,  or  as  Paul  puts  it  in 
the  thirteenth  verse  of  the  chapter  from  which  our 
other  text  was  taken,  Gal.  3:13:  the  One  who  “  Re¬ 
deemed  us  from  the  curse  of  the  law  (that  we  were 
under,  because  we  had  broken  it)  by  becoming  a 
curse  for  us  (that  is,  in  our  place)  ;  for  it  is  written, 
Cursed  is  everyone  that  hangeth  on  a  tree.” 

2.  In  the  second  place,  Jesus  Christ  came  to  be 

our  Deliverer,  not  merely  from  the  guilt  of  sin,  but 
from  the  power  of  sin.  We  read  in  the  eighth  chap¬ 
ter  of  the  same  book  from  which  our  text  is  taken, 
Jno.  8:34,  36:  “  Jesus  answered  them,  Verily, 

verily,  I  say  unto  you,  whosoever  committeth  sin  is 
the  servant  of  sin.  ...  If  therefore  the  Son  shall 
make  you  free,  ye  shall  be  free  indeed .” 

So  then,  to  receive  Jesus  Christ  means  to  take 
Him  to  ourselves  to  be  our  Deliverer  from  the  power 
of  sin,  to  give  up  all  our  self-efforts  to  deliver  our¬ 
selves  from  the  power  of  sin,  and  just  look  up  to 
the  Risen  Christ,  Who  has  “all  power  in  Heaven 
and  on  earth  ”  to  deliver  us  from  the  power  of  sin. 

3.  In  the  third  place,  He  came  to  be  our  Divine 
Teacher  and  Absolute  Lord,  Who  has  a  right  to  the 
absolute  control  of  all  our  thoughts  and  desires  and 
purposes  and  actions.  In  the  thirteenth  chapter  of 
this  same  book,  verse  13,  our  Lord  Jesus  is  recorded 
as  saying,  “Ye  call  me,  teacher,  and  Lord,  and  ye 
say  well ;  for  so  I  am.”  Even  in  the  Revised  Ver¬ 
sion  we  have  not  in  this  passage  an  accurate  trans¬ 
lation  of  the  Greek.  What  Jesus  really  said  was, 
“Ye  call  me  the  teacher,  and  the  Lord:  and  ye 
say  well;  for  so  I  am.” 

So  then,  To  “receive  Him”  means  then,  to  take 


48 


HOW  TO  BE  SAVED 


Him  to  ourselves  as  "the  Teacher”  the  One  and 
Only  absolutely  authoritative  Teacher,  the  One 
Whom  we  shall  believe  against  the  whole  world 
(if  the  whole  world  says  one  thing,  every  philoso¬ 
pher,  scientist  and  university  professor  and  sage  and 
poet  in  it,  and  Jesus  Christ  says  another,  we  shall 
believe  Him  against  them  all),  and  “  The  Lord,”  the 
One  Who  is  our  Divine,  and  Absolute  Lord  to 
Whom  we  hand  over  unquestioningly  and  unhesitat¬ 
ingly  the  absolute  control  of  all  our  conduct  in  every 
relation  of  life,  and  to  Whom  we  bow  the  knee  and 
“  Confess  that  Jesus  Christ  is  Lord,  to  the  glory  of 
God,  the  father”  (Phil.  2:10,  11). 

When  anyone  thus  receives  Jesus  Christ,  takes 
Him  to  be  to  himself  his  Sin-Bearer,  and  trusts  God 
to  forgive  him  because  Jesus  Christ  made  a  full 
atonement  for  his  sin  by  dying  in  his  place,  and  to 
be  to  himself  his  Deliverer  from  the  power  of  sin, 
giving  up  all  his  self-efforts  to  overcome  sin,  and 
trusting  the  risen  Christ  Jesus  alone  to  give  him  vic¬ 
tory  over  sin,  and  to  be  his  inerrantly  authoritative 
Teacher,  Whom  he  will  believe  against  the  world, 
and  to  be  “The  Lord”  (not  “A  Lord,”  but  “ The 
Lord  ”)  to  Whom  he  unquestioningly  and  unhesi¬ 
tatingly  surrenders  the  absolute  control  of  all  his  con¬ 
duct  in  every  relation  of  life,  and  to  Whom  he  will 
bow  the  knee,  “  confessing  that  Jesus  Christ  is 
Lord”  (cf.  Rom.  10:9,  I0)>  the  moment  that  any¬ 
one  does  this,  that  moment  that  person  gets  the 
right,  the  authority,  the  authority  which  God  Him¬ 
self  bestowed  upon  him,  to  call  himself  “  God's 
child  !  ”  Anyone  here  to-night  who  will,  can  thus 
become  God’s  child,  and  become  so  at  once. 


A  WONDERFUL  CONTRAST 


49 


We  do  not  become  children  of  God  by  praying 
or  by  reading  the  Bible,  or  by  turning  over  a  new 
leaf,  or  by  quitting  our  sins,  or  by  doing  good  deeds, 
or  by  leading  holy  lives,  as  good  as  all  these  things 
are  in  their  place,  we  become  children  of  God  by 
the  one  simple  act  of  receiving  Jesus  Christ,  of  tak¬ 
ing  Him  to  be  to  ourselves  what  He  came  into  the 
world  to  be.  “  As  many  as  received  him,  to  them 
gave  He  the  right  to  become  the  children  of  God, 
even  to  them  that  believe  on  his  name.” 

Even  if  we  have  never  been  to  church  before  in 
our  lives,  even  if  we  have  never  read  a  verse  in  the 
Bible  in  our  lives,  even  if  we  have  never  said  a 
prayer  in  our  lives,  even  if  we  have  never  done  one 
single  good  deed  in  all  our  lives,  even  though  our 
lives  have  been  full  of  sin  and  vileness  every  day  of 
our  lives,  the  moment  we  thus  receive  Jesus  Christ 
we  get  the  right,  the  authority,  the  authority  given 
to  us  by  God  Himself,  to  become  “  children  of 
God  ” 

If,  on  the  other  hand,  we  go  to  church  several 
times  a  week,  if  we  read  the  Bible  every  day,  if  we 
pray  every  morning,  noon  and  night,  if  we  give  up 
our  every  bad  habit,  even  if  we  give  much  to  the 
poor,  even  if  we  do  all  sorts  of  good  deeds,  and 
avoid  all  sorts  of  sins,  if  we  do  all  these,  and  do 
not  receive  Jesus  Christ  as  our  Sin-Bearer,  as  our 
Deliverer  from  the  power  of  sin,  as  our  Authorita¬ 
tive  and  Final  Teacher,  and  as  our  Divine  Lord,  we 
are  not  and  cannot  become  “  children  of  God.”  The 
right  to  sonship  is  in  Jesus  Christ,  and  you  only  get 
the  right  by  receiving  Him.  If  I  put  $1,000  in  a 
certain  package  and  then  say  to  you,  “  Here,  if  you 


50 


HOW  TO  BE  SAVED 


take  that  package  you  can  have  what  is  in  it,”  if  you 
took  the  package  you  would  get  that  $1,000,  but  if 
you  did  not  take  the  package  you  would  not  get  that 
$1,000,  no  matter  how  many  other  great  and  good 
things  you  might  do.  Now,  God  has  put  the  right 
to  sonship  in  a  package  and  that  package  is  a  per¬ 
son,  Jesus  Christ.  If  you  take  Him  you  get  it;  if 
you  refuse  Him  you  cannot  get  it,  no  matter  how 
many  other  good  things  you  may  do. 

God  makes  this  very  plain  in  another  place,  I  Jno. 
5:10-12.  Here  He  says:  “He  that  believeth  on 
the  Son  of  God  hath  the  testimony  in  Him :  he  that 
believeth  not  God  hath  made  him  a  liar  because  he 
hath  not  believed  in  the  testimony  that  God  hath 
borne  concerning  his  Son.  And  the  testimony  is  this, 
that  God  gave  unto  us  eternal  life,  and  this  life  is  in 
his  Son.  He  that  hath  the  Son,  hath  the  life;  and. 
he  that  hath  not  the  Son  of  God,  hath  not  the  life.” 

Look  squarely,  seriously  and  intently  at  the  con¬ 
trast,  “As  many  as  are  of  the  deeds  of  the  law,”  as 
many  as  are  trusting  in  their  own  doing  and  not  in 
Jesus  Christ,  as  many  as  are  out  of  Christ,  as  many 
as  have  not  definitely  “received”  Jesus  Christ,  good 
and  bad  alike,  are  “  under  a  curse  ” ;  but  on  the  other 
hand  as  many  as  receive  Christ,  regardless  of  the 
past,  the  vilest  as  well  as  the  best,  get  the  authority 
to  become  children  of  God.  To  which  class  do  you 
belong  to-night  ?  I  do  not  ask  you  whether  you 
have  been  good  or  bad,  moral  or  immoral,  religious 
or  godless,  orthodox  or  heretical,  but  are  you  trying 
to  get  to  Heaven  by  your  own  doing,  or  by  trusting 
in  what  Another,  Jesus  Christ,  has  already  done,  are 
you  “  of  the  works  of  the  law,”  or  are  you  of  those 


A  WONDERFUL  CONTRAST 


51’ 


who  have  received  Christ  and  put  their  trust  in  Him, 
and  Him  alone?  If  you  are  of  the  former,  God’s 
Word  for  it,  you  are,  “  Under  a  curse.”  If  you 
are  of  the  latter,  God’s  Word  for  it,  no  matter  what 
the  past  has  been,  you  are  a  child  of  God  to-night. 

“  Under  a  Curse  !  ”  What  an  appalling  phrase ! 
How  those  words  make  a  thoughtful  man  shudder. 
“  Under  a  Curse!”  What  curse?  Whose  curse? 
The  curse  of  the  Law  of  God,  which  you  have 
broken,  and  the  curse  of  the  God  whose  law  you 
have  broken,  under  the  curse  of  the  Infinite,  Omnip¬ 
otent,  Omniscient,  Omnipresent,  Eternal,  Infinitely 
Holy  God,  Who  made  all  the  great  worlds  that  go 
to  make  up  our  universe,  Who  upholdeth  and  abso¬ 
lutely  controlleth  that  universe  and  all  things  in  it, 
Who  holds  the  destinies  of  all  individual  men  and 
all  nations,  the  destinies  of  time  and  the  destinies  of 
eternity  in  His  hand,  under  the  curse  of  “  the  God 
in  whose  hand  thy  breath  is,  and  whose  are  all  thy 
ways”  (Dan.  5:23).  “  Under  the  curse  of  God!” 

It  is  awful.  It  is  appalling.  It  suggests  that  solemn 
and  terrifying  word  spoken  by  Jesus  Christ  Himself, 
in  Matt.  25 : 41 :  “  Then  shall  he  say  also  unto  them 
on  the  left  hand,  Depart  from  me,  ye  cursed,  into 
the  eternal  fire  which  is  prepared  for  the  devil  and 
his  angels.” 

Now  turn  to  the  other  side  of  the  contrast,  “Au¬ 
thority  (the  divinely  given  right)  to  become  children 
of  God.”  How  those  “  God-breathed  ”  words  make 
the  intelligent  heart  bound  and  throb,  “  The  author¬ 
ity  to  become  children  of  God.”  Whose  children? 
“  Children  of  God.”  Ah !  What  would  it  be  for  a 
ragged,  starving  street  urchin  to  become  a  child  of 


.52 


HOW  TO  BE  SAVED 


a  king?  But  that  is  nothing,  nothing  at  all,  in  com¬ 
parison  with  this,  for  you  and  me,  moral  derelicts 
such  as  we  have  been,  “  sinners,  poor  and  needy, 
weak  and  wounded,  sick  and  sore,”  to  “  become 
children  of  God  ” ;  not  slaves,  mind  you ;  not  servants, 
mind  you ;  not  retainers,  mind  you ;  not  representa¬ 
tives,  mind  you;  but  children,  “  children  of 
God.”  I  thought  it  quite  fine  once,  when  Mrs.  Tor- 
rey  and  I  had  the  privilege  of  sitting  at  table  three 
times  a  day  for  a  week  or  two,  right  beside  the  son 
of  one  of  Europe’s  reigning  monarchs,  the  Prince, 
and  his  wife,  the  Princess ;  but  to  be  a  “  Child  of 
God /”  Think  of  it!  We  cannot  take  it  in, — but  I 
know  that  I  am  a  “  Child  of  God.”  Do  you  know 
that  you  are  a  “Child  of  God?”  You  may  become 
one  and  you  may  know  it,  inside  of  five  minutes. 
Listen,  “  But  as  many  as  receive  him,  to  them  gave 
he  the  right  to  become  the  children  of  God,  even  to 
them  that  believe  on  his  name”  (Jno.  1 : 12). 

Can  it  be  true?  Yes,  beyond  all  peradventure  or 
question  it  is  true,  God  Himself  says  it.  And  it  is 
not  only  true,  but  it  is  open  to  you,  open  to  any  one 
of  you,  no  matter  how  poor,  ignorant  and  wicked 
you  may  be,  open  to  you  right  now. 

Oh,  men  and  women,  and  young  men  and  maidens, 
step  out  right  now  from  “  under  the  curse  ”  of  God 
into  the  glory  of  becoming  “  children  of  God.” 
What  must  you  do?  Only  this,  receive  Jesus  Christ, 
that  is  all.  Take  Him  to  be  your  Sin-Bearer  and 
trust  God  to  forgive  you  because  Jesus  Christ  died 
in  your  place;  take  Him  to  be  your  Deliverer  from 
the  power  of  sin,  and  trust  the  Risen  Christ,  Who 
has  “  all  power  in  Heaven  and  on  earth,”  to  keep 


A  WONDERFUL  CONTRAST 


53 


you  day  by  day  from  sin’s  power;  take  Him  to  be 
your  Absolutely  Authoritative  Teacher  and  your  Di¬ 
vine  Lord,  to  Whom  you  surrender  the  entire  con¬ 
trol  of  your  life  in  all  its  relations,  and  to  Whom 
you  bow  the  knee  and  confess  that  He  “  is  Lord 
to  the  glory  of  God,  the  Father.”  That  is  all.  Will 
you  do  it?  Will  you  do  it  right  now?  There  is 
no  greater  folly  that  anyone  can  be  guilty  of  than 
this,  by  our  own  free  choice,  to  remain  “  under  the 
curse,”  rather  than  to  enter  into  the  glory  of  becom¬ 
ing  a  “  Child  of  God,”  by  just  receiving  Jesus  Christ. 
No  inmate  of  any  insane  asylum  ever  did  an  insaner 
thing  than  that.  Will  you  receive  Jesus  Christ  and 
become  a  “  Child  of  God  ”  right  now  ? 


IV 


HOW  A  GOOD  MAN,  BUT  AN  UNSAVED 
MAN,  BECAME  A  SAVED  MAN  AND 
A  CHILD  OF  GOD 

“Send  to  Joppa  and  fetch  Simon,  whose  surname 
is  Peter;  who  shall  speak  unto  thee  words  zuhereby 
thou  shalt  be  saved,  thou  and  all  thy  house.” — 
Acts  11:13,  14. 

IN  the  record  of  the  incident  from  which  my  text 
is  taken  we  are  told  that  Cornelius,  a  captain 
in  the  Roman  army,  but  who,  as  we  shall  see 
directly,  was  a  remarkably  good  man  in  many  ways, 
was  not  as  yet  a  saved  man.  He  was  bidden  to  send 
to  Joppa  for  Peter,  the  apostle;  and  Peter  would 
speak  unto  him  words  through  hearing  which  and 
believing  which  and  acting  upon  which  he  would  be 
saved.  The  life  of  Cornelius  was  already  a  most 
exemplary  life  in  many  respects  and  he  was  further¬ 
more  a  most  candid,  sincere,  honest  and  earnest 
seeker  after  the  truth.  Nevertheless,  our  text  clearly 
teaches  us  he  was  not  saved  as  yet,  although  he  was 
soon  going  to  be  saved.  To  my  mind  the  story  of 
the  salvation  of  this  man  Cornelius  is  one  of  the 
most  interesting  and  instructive  contained  in  the 
whole  Bible,  not  merely  because  he  was  the  first 
Gentile  convert  to  Christianity,  but  because  of  what 
he  himself  was. 


54 


A  CHILD  OF  GOD 


55 


I.  The  Character  of  Cornelius 

Let  us  look  closely  at  the  character  and  conduct 
of  this  man  Cornelius. 

I.  In  the  first  place,  the  inspired  record  declares 
that,  He  was  “a  Devout  Man"  (Acts  10:2),  “  and 
One  That  Feared  God."  He  was  a  man  who  lived 
as  in  the  sight  of  God  and  with  a  reverential  regard 
for  God’s  will  and  God’s  law.  It  is  evident  from  the 
whole  story  that  his  devotion  was  genuine;  for  it 
affected  his  whole  household.  We  are  told  that  not 
only  did  he  fear  God,  but  that  he  “  feared  God  with 
all  his  house."  Furthermore,  the  soldiers  under  him 
and  his  near  friends  also  were  affected  by  the  gen¬ 
uineness  of  his  pious  regard  for  the  Deity  (Acts 
10:2,  7,  24).  It  certainly  speaks  well  for  a  man’s 
piety  when  his  whole  family  participate  in  it  and 
when  those  who  serve  under  him  share  in  it.  I 
know  not  a  few  religious  people  whose  families  do 
not  take  much  stock  in  their  religion  and  whose  em¬ 
ployees  do  not  take  any  stock  at  all  in  it;  but  so 
genuine  was  the  regard  for  God  of  this  man  Cor¬ 
nelius,  that  his  whole  family  shared  in  it  and  even 
his  soldiers  were  affected  by  it. 

Cornelius  was  not  in  a  position  very  favourable 
to  the  promotion  of  piety.  Many  have  told  me  that 
it  is  impossible  to  be  truly  religious,  even  in  our  own 
army,  but  it  was  certainly  very  difficult  in  the  old 
Roman  army.  But  it  was  in  this  place  of  extreme 
difficulty  that  we  see  Cornelius  maintaining  his  de¬ 
votion  at  a  very  high  level.  The  truth  is,  there  is 
no  position  in  life  where  it  is  impossible  to  serve 
God.  Someone  (George  C.  Grubb)  has  said,  “  Have 
you  never  noticed  that  God’s  most  brilliant  saints 


56 


HOW  TO  BE  SAVED 


have  been  placed  in  positions  of  peculiar  difficulty  ?  ” 
And  he  cites  as  illustrations  of  this  the  case  of 
Joseph  in  the  awful  court  of  Pharaoh,  and  Daniel 
at  the  depraved  court  of  Nebuchadnezzar.  He  might 
have  added  Elijah  at  the  vile  court  of  Ahab  and 
John  the  Baptist  at  the  licentious  and  bloody  court 
of  Herod,  and  many  others.  No,  my  friend,  who¬ 
ever  you  may  be  who  is  making  the  excuse,  “  I  can¬ 
not  serve  God  in  my  position  ” ;  that  is  not  true.  If 
you  cannot  serve  God  in  any  other  way  in  that  posi¬ 
tion,  you  can  serve  Him  by  giving  up  your  position. 

2.  But  Cornelius  was  not  only  a  devout  man 
toward  God,  he  was  also  righteous  toward  men. 
This  we  are  told  in  so  many  words  in  Acts  io :  22. 
This  was  the  testimony  regarding  him  by  those  who 
went  to  Peter.  I  am  sorry  to  say  that  devoutness 
toward  God  is  not  always  accompanied  by  righteous¬ 
ness  toward  men.  Of  course,  a  faith  in  God  and 
love  for  God  that  does  not  lead  to  honesty  in  deal¬ 
ing  with  men  and  love  toward  men  is  not  an  intelli¬ 
gent  and  genuine  faith ;  but  there  is  much  of  that 
sort  of  “  faith  in  God  ”  in  the  world  to-day.  There 
is  much  that  passes  for  devotion  that  is  not  accom¬ 
panied  by  righteousness  in  private,  domestic,  busi¬ 
ness  and  political  life.  I  have  known  men  of  most 
demonstrative  piety  who  were  utterly  unreliable  in 
business.  Now  I  do  not  believe  these  men  are  all 
conscious  hypocrites,  but  they  certainly  have  a  de¬ 
voutness  which  is  of  no  value  in  the  sight  of  God. 
But  Cornelius  was  a  man  wEo  was  “  righteous  ” 
toward  men,  as  well  a9  “  devout  ”  toward  God. 
That  is  a  most  happy  combination.  I  wish  we  had 
more  men  of  that  type  here  in  Los  Angeles. 


A  CHILD  OF  GOD 


57 


3.  In  the  third  place,  Cornelius  was  an  excep¬ 
tionally  and  notably  generous  man.  God’s  own 
record  concerning  him  is  that  he  “  gave  much  alms 
to  the  people”  (Acts  10:2).  So  notable  was  the 
generosity  of  Cornelius’  gifts  to  the  poor  that  God 
took  notice  of  them  and  kept  a  record  of  them.  He 
even  went  so  far  as  to  send  an  angel  down  to  say  to 
Cornelius,  “  Thine  alms  are  gone  up  for  a  memorial 
before  God”  (Acts  10:4).  That  is  to  say  that  they 
had  gone  up  to  be  remembered  by  God.  If  the  only 
memorial  that  some  of  you  professing  Christians 
here  to-night  get  in  Heaven  is  your  alms  to  the  poor, 
I  am  afraid  that  it  will  be  of  such  small  dimensions 
that  you  will  have  a  hard  time  finding  it  when  you 
get  there.  All  that  a  good  many  people  give  to  the 
poor  is  their  cast-off  clothing,  that  they  themselves 
would  not  wear  any  more  anyhow.  Not  so  with 
Cornelius,  he  “  gave  much  alms  to  the  people.” 

4.  But  even  this  is  not  all,  Cornelius  was  a  Man 
of  Prayer.  We  are  told  that  he  <c  prayed  to  God 
always ”  (Acts  10:2).  Though  he  was  not  a  Jew 
by  birth,  he  had  become  convinced  of  the  truth  of 
the  Jewish  religion  and  observed  the  regular  Jewish 
hours  of  prayer.  We  find  him  praying  “  about  the 
ninth  hour  of  the  day,”  which  was  nine  o’clock  in 
the  morning,  the  Jewish  hour  of  morning  sacrifice 
and  morning  prayer.  And  furthermore,  as  already 
said,  we  are  told  that  he  <(  prayed  to  God  always 
He  was  a  man  who  was  constantly  in  prayer  to  God. 
He  no  longer  worshipped  or  prayed  to  Jupiter  or  Juno 
or  Venus  or  any  of  the  false  gods  of  the  religion  in 
which  he  was  born  and  brought  up,  but  to  the  only 


.58 


HOW  TO  BE  SAVED 


true  God.  He  was  a  man  who  was  constantly  in 
prayer  to  God.  Remember,  Cornelius  was  not  yet 
a  Christian ;  but  what  an  example  he  sets  in  this 
matter  of  prayer  to  many  who  profess  to  believe  dn 
Christ  Jesus  to-day.  I  wonder  how  much  time  the 
average  Christian  in  this  audience  to-night,  Protes¬ 
tant  or  Roman  Catholic,  spends  in  prayer  daily. 
About  the  only  time  some  Roman  Catholics  pray  is 
when  the  priest  appoints  them  so  many  Pater  Nos- 
ters  or  Ave  Marias  as  a  penance,  and  about  the  only 
praying  a  good  many  Protestants  do  is  four  or  five 
minutes  at  bedtime ;  but  this  captain  in  the  Roman 
army,  just  emerging  from  the  darkness  of  heathen¬ 
ism,  was  a  man  of  constant  prayer,  and  his  prayers 
as  well  as  his  alms  had  “  gone  up  as  a  memorial  be¬ 
fore  God”  (Acts  10:4). 

5.  In  addition  to  all  these  things,  in  the  fifth 
place,  Cornelius  was  an  eager  seeker  after  more 
light.  When  he  heard  that  there  was  in  another  city 
a  man  who  had  more  truth  than  he  had,  he  “  im¬ 
mediately  ”  sent  for  him  (Acts  10:7,  8,  33),  and  in 
addition  to  that  “  called  together  his  kinsmen  and  his 
near  friends  ”  to  hear  this  new  truth.  All  the  truth 
that  there  was  he  wanted  for  himself,  and  not  only 
for  himself  but  for  his  friends  also,  and  he  wished 
it  at  once.  How  unlike  Cornelius  was  to  many 
to-day  who  call  themselves  honest  “  seekers  after 
truth,”  but  who  studiously  avoid  those  who  are  likely 
to  give  them  the  truth,  and,  if  they  happen  to  meet 
them,  dodge  and  quibble  and  resort  to  all  sorts  of 
subterfuges  to  escape  from  letting  the  light  into  their 
hearts.  Many  a  man  to-day  calls  himself  a  “  truth- 
seeker,”  and  goes  and  listens  to  some  palpable  petti- 


A  CHILD  OF  GOD 


59 


fogger  such  as  Colonel  Ingersoll  was.  Cornelius  was 
not  that  kind  of  “  truth-seeker  ”  but  an  honest  and 
genuine  one  who  really  wanted  to  know  the  truth, 
and  who  was  ready  to  immediately  obey  it  when  he 
found  it.  Cornelius  was  not  yet  a  Christian,  but 
he  was  not  of  that  type  of  non-Christians  who  are 
ready  to  listen  to  all  sorts  of  disingenuous  reason¬ 
ings  and  foolish  imaginations  that  seem  to  discredit 
Christianity.  He  was  indeed  a  sincere  seeker  after 
truth. 

At  the  very  time  that  directions  came  to  him  from 
God  to  send  to  Joppa  for  Simon  Peter,  who  would 
tell  him  the  saving  truth,  he  was  in  prayer  for  more 
light.  That  is  evident  from  Acts  10:31,  32,  where 
we  read  that  the  angel  said  to  him,  “  Cornelius, 
thy  prayer  is  heard.  .  .  .  Send  therefore  to  Joppa, 
and  call  unto  thee  Simon,  whose  surname  is  Peter.” 
So  it  is  evident  that  the  “prayer”  that  he  was  offer¬ 
ing  and  that  was  “  heard  ”  zvas  a  prayer  for  light,  a 
prayer  for  the  truth.  Every  honest  seeker  after  light 
will  pray  for  it.  I  would  like  to  ask  any  skeptic 
present  here  to-night,  “  Have  you  ever  honestly 
asked  God  to  show  you  the  light?  Have  you  ever 
honestly  asked  God  to  show  you  if  Jesus  Christ  was 
His  Son  or  not,  and  promised  Him  that  if  He  would 
show  you  that  Jesus  was  the  Son  of  God  you  would 
accept  Him  as  your  Saviour,  and  confess  Him  as 
such  before  the  world?” 

6.  In  the  sixth  place,  Cornelius  was  ready  to 
obey  the  truth  when  he  fouyid  it,  zuhatever  it  might 
require  of  him.  This  is  evident  from  his  question 
when  God’s  messenger  appeared.  Pie  was  badly 
frightened,  but  he  stood  up  like  the  obedient  soldier 


.60 


HOW  TO  BE  SAVED 


that  he  was,  and  said,  “  What  is  it,  Lord?”  (Acts 
10:4).  In  other  words,  “Lord,  give  the  command 
and  I  will  obey  it.”  His  readiness  to  obey  the  truth 
is  also  proven  by  his  prompt  obedience  to  the  Gospel 
when  it  was  declared  to  him  (Acts  10:43-48). 

Taken  all  together,  this  man  Cornelius  was  a  man 
of  singularly  lofty  character ;  devout  toward  God, 
righteous  toward  men,  a  great  giver  to  the  poor,  a 
man  of  much  prayer,  an  eager  seeker  after  truth, 
ready  to  obey  the  truth  when  he  found  it,  whatever 
it  might  require ;  and  yet  with  all  this,  the  inspired 
record  tells  us  Cornelius  was  not  as  yet  “  saved,” 
that  he  still  needed  salvation :  the  word  that  God 
spoke  to  him  was,  “  Send  to  Joppa  and  fetch  Simon, 
whose  surname  is  Peter;  who  shall  speak  unto  thee 
words  whereby  thou  shalt  be  saved  ”  It  is  clear 
then  that  he  was  not  saved  as  yet. 

How  many  there  are  in  this  audience  to-night  who 
are  trusting  for  salvation  in  just  such  things  as  Cor¬ 
nelius  already  had,  and  who  fancy  they  are  saved 
because  they  have  some  or  all  of  these  things,  though 
they  certainly  have  them  in  much  less  measure  than 
Cornelius  had.  How  many  men  have  told  me  they 
expected  to  be  saved  because  they  were  religious  or 
because  they  were  righteous  in  their  daily  life  in 
their  dealings  with  men,  or  because  they  were  gener¬ 
ous  to  the  poor,  or  because  they  prayed  a  good  deal, 
or  because  they  were  honest  seekers  after  the  truth. 
Behold  Cornelius !  He  was  all  these  and  more y  and 
yet  God  declares  that  he  was  not  as  yet  saved.  If 
any  man  could  be  “  saved  by  character  ”  certainly 
Cornelius  could ;  but  he  was  unsaved,  and  that  fact 
shows  the  utter  folly  of  this  modern  nonsensical 


A:  CHILD  OF  GOD  61 

talk  about  “  Salvation  by  Character.”  Cornelius  still 
needed  something  that  was  absolutely  necessary  be¬ 
fore  he  could  be  a  saved  man.  I  am  glad  to  tell  you 
he  found  it.  Every  man  who  is  as  sincere  a  seeker 
after  truth  as  Cornelius  was,  and  as  ready  to  obey 
it  when  he  finds  it,  will  certainly  find  it ;  for  the  Lord 
Jesus  Himself  says,  “  If  any  man  willeth  to  do  his 
will  (that  is,  God’s  will)  he  shall  know  of  the  teach¬ 
ing  whether  it  is  of  God,  or  whether  I  speak  from 
myself”  (Jno.  7:  17).  It  is  absolutely  certain  that 
any  man  who  sincerely  desires  to  know  the  truth  and 
is  ready  to  obey  it  when  he  finds  it,  will  find  it,  and 
will  accept  the  truth  as  it  is  in  Jesus  and  will  thereby 
be  saved;  but  he  is  not  actually  saved  until  he  does 
know  this  truth  and  receives  it  and  acts  upon  it. 
These  things  which  Cornelius  had  did  not  save  him, 
but  they  prepared  him  to  find  and  receive  the  truth  as 
it  is  in  Christ  Jesus,  and  thereby  to  be  saved. 

II.  How  Cornelius  Found  Salvation  and  Be¬ 
came  Not  Only  a  Good  Man  But  a  Saved 
Man  and  a  Child  of  God 

Now  let  us  look  at  how  Cornelius  found  salvation 
and  became  not  only  “  a  good  man,”  but  “  a  saved 
man  ”  and  “  a  child  of  God.” 

1.  First  of  all,  Cornelius  prayed  for  light.  This 
appears  from  God’s  saying  to  him,  "  Thy  prayer  is 
heard  .  .  .  Send  therefore  to  Joppa  and  fetch 

Simon,  whose  surname  is  Peter,  who  shall  speak 
unto  thee  words  whereby  thou  shalt  be  saved  ”  (Acts 
10:31,  32,  comp.  Acts  10:22  and  Acts  11:13, 
14).  Cornelius  felt  that  he  had  not  the  whole  truth. 
He  knew  that  he  had  not  peace.  He  knew  that  for 


62 


HOW  TO  BE  SAVED 


all  his  excellencies  of  character  he  was  a  sinner  and 
needed  pardon,  and  he  sought  from  God  to  find  out 
where  pardon  could  be  found.  Whosoever  desires 
to  know  the  truth,  and  whosoever  desires  pardon,  let 
him  seek  light  from  God,  let  him  ask  God  to  point 
him  to  the  One  in  Whom  pardon  is  to  be  found. 
That  prayer  mill  not  save  him ,  hut  it  mill  lead  him 
to  the  One  Who  mill  save  him .  I  could  stand  here 
by  the  hour  and  give  you  illustrations  of  men  and 
women  whom  I  have  known  from  pretty  much  every 
rank  of  society,  who  were  in  sincere  doubt  as  to 
whether  Jesus  Christ  was  the  Son  of  God,  and 
whether  He  could  and  would  save,  but  who  sought 
light  from  God  and  got  it,  and  were  thus  brought 
to  an  intelligent  faith  in  Jesus  Christ  as  the  Son  of 
God,  and  as  their  own  personal  crucified  and  risen 
Saviour,  and  thereby  found  salvation. 

2.  In  the  second  place,  Cornelius  obeyed,  step  by 
step,  the  light  as  God  gave  him  to  see  it.  There  are 
some  who  will  not  take  one  single  step  until  God 
shows  them  the  whole  way.  Such  people  never  find 
the  way.  But  if  we  are  ready  to  take  a  step  at  a 
time  as  God  indicates  it  to  us,  God  will  lead  us  on 
and  on  into  the  perfect  day.  For  example,  I  know 
men  who  will  not  take  the  steps  in  the  truth,  which 
they  acknowledge  are  perfectly  clear,  because  they 
do  not  yet  understand  all  the  mysteries  concerning 
future  punishment  and  God’s  purposes  concerning 
the  heathen  and  predestination  and  other  questions 
like  that.  Cornelius  was  not  like  that.  Cornelius 
only  asked  to  see  a  step  at  a  time;  and  as  soon  as 
he  saw  the  next  step  he  took  that,  and  therefore  he 
was  soon  out  in  the  clear  daylight.  So  will  it  be 


A  CHILD  OF  GOD 


63 


with  you  if  you  will  follow  Cornelius’  example. 
The  very  first  step  that  Cornelius  was  bidden  to  take 
was  a  test  of  faith:  he  was  bidden  to  send  for  an 
unknown  Jew  in  a  tanyard,  who  should  show  him 
the  way  of  life.  How  absurd  that  must  have  looked, 
were  not  the  Jews  in  subjection  to  the  Romans?  and 
was  not  Rome  the  land  of  culture  and  Judea  the 
land  of  superstition?  and  was  not  this  particular 
Jew  an  uneducated  man,  and  should  he,  a  cultured 
Roman  officer,  send  for  an  ignorant  Jew  to  teach 
him?  But  Cornelius  knew  God  had  commanded  it; 
so  he  raised  no  objections  and  asked  no  questions, 
but  obeyed  orders  and  did  exactly  as  he  was  told. 
Ah,  how  many  of  us  refuse  to  obey  God’s  orders  be¬ 
cause  we  are  so  filled  with  the  conceit  of  our  own 
culture  and  our  own  superior  position ;  and  therefore 
we  never  get  out  of  the  fog  and  darkness  into  which 
our  self-sufficiency  has  plunged  us.  We  proudly  re¬ 
fuse  to  obey  God  because  we  cannot  understand  the 
reasonableness  of  His  commands,  and  so  we  miss 
the  path  of  unquestioning  obedience  to  God  that 
would  lead  us  into  the  glorious  light  of  the  Son 
of  God. 

3.  The  third  step  that  Cornelius  took  toward 
salvation  was  that,  He  heard  the  simple  Gospel  of 
Christ  crucified  and  Christ  risen  again,  and  of  remis¬ 
sion  of  sins  to  be  obtained  through  simple  faith  in 
this  crucified  and  risen  Christ  Jesus,  the  Lord  of  all. 
The  sermon  that  Cornelius  heard  was  very  short, 
and  it  was  the  first  Christian  sermon  he  had  ever 
heard.  He  may  have  heard  before  that  there  was 
such  a  person  as  Jesus,  but  he  knew  little  or  nothing 
about  Him.  Peter  simply  told  him  a  few  funda- 


64 


HOW  TO  BE  SAVED 


mental  facts  about  Jesus,  how  God  “  preached  good 
tidings  of  peace  by  Him,”  how  Jesus  Christ  was 
“  Lord  of  all,”  “  how  God  anointed  Him  with  the 
Holy  Spirit  .and  with  power,”  and  how  He  “  went 
about  doing  good,  and  healing  all  that  were  op¬ 
pressed  of  the  devil ;  for  God  was  with  him.”  Peter 
told  him  how  he,  himself,  was  witness  of  all  things 
which  Jesus  of  Nazareth  did,  and  then  he  told  him 
how  they  slew  Him  and  “  hanged  him  on  a  tree,” 
and  then  he  told  him  how  on  the  third  day  “  God 
raised  him  up,”  and  how  he,  himself,  was  an  eye¬ 
witness  of  His  appearances  in  His  body  after  His 
resurrection  and  had  “  eaten  and  drank  with  Jesus 
after  he  arose  from  the  dead,”  then  he  told  him  how 
this  Jesus  was  “  ordained  of  God  to  be  the  judge  of 
the  living  and  the  dead,”  and  how  “  to  him  bear  all 
the  prophets  witness,  that  through  his  name  every¬ 
one  that  believeth  on  him  shall  receive  remission  of 
sins ”  (Acts  10:34-43).  That  was  all  that  Peter 
told  him,  and  that  was  enough.  Cornelius  believed 
it  and  was  instantly  saved.  All  that  Cornelius  heard 
you  have  heard  time  and  time  again,  and  as  far  as 
hearing  and  knowing  the  truth  is  concerned,  you 
have  heard  enough  and  already  know  enough  to  be 
saved. 

4.  Then  Cornelius  took  the  decisive  step.  He  be¬ 
lieved  in  Jesus  Christ  right  there  and  then,  and  was 
saved  at  once.  Will  you  take  the  same  decisive  step 
to-night,  the  simple  step  of  believing  on  Christ  Jesus, 
of  Whom  it  is  conclusively  proven  that  He  died  on 
the  cross  and  thus  made  full  atonement  for  sin,  and 
secured  pardon  for  all  who  would  believe  on  Him, 
and  that  “  He  arose  again  ”  and  therefore  has  power 


A  CHILD  OF  GOD 


65 


to  keep  from  the  power  of  sin  all  those  who  put  their 
trust  in  Him?  (Heb.  7:25). 

As  good  and  exemplary  as  Cornelius  was,  he  wa9 
saved  in  the  same  way  that  the  coarse,  brutal,  prayer¬ 
less,  godless  Philippian  jailor  in  the  sixteenth  chap¬ 
ter  of  the  Acts  of  the  Apostles  was  saved,  that  is  by 
simple  faith  in  Jesus  Christ  for  the  pardon  of  sin 
and  for  deliverance  from  sin’s  power. 

When  Peter  spoke  of  the  “  forgiveness  of  sins,” 
Cornelius  knew  he  needed  it,  and  if  you  have  not 
already  received  Jesus  Christ  as  your  own  personal 
Saviour,  you  need  it  to-night,  and  when  Peter  said, 
“  Whosoever  believeth  in  him  shall  receive  remis¬ 
sion  of  sins,”  Cornelius  said  to  himself,  “That  means 
me,”  and  he  believed  right  then  and  there,  and  “  re¬ 
ceived  remission  of  sins  ”  right  then  and  there. 
Anyone  here  to-night  can  receive  remission  of  sins 
in  exactly  the  same  way  that  Cornelius  did,  and  just 
as  quickly  as  Cornelius  did.  The  word  preached  to 
Cornelius  says,  “  Through  his  name  everyone  that 
believeth  on  him  shall  receive  remission  of  sins.” 
Even  though  you  are  as  good  as  Cornelius  you  need 
pardon :  even  though  you  are  as  vile  as  the  vilest 
you  can  have  it,  “  Everyone  that  believeth  on  him 
shall  receive  remission  of  sins”  Let  me  call  your 
attention  to  one  thing  more.  The  Holy  Spirit  came 
upon  Cornelius  then  and  there,  in  testimony  to  the 
fact  that  God  had  accepted  him,  and  he  began  to 
“  magnify  God  ”  in  the  power  of  the  Holy  Spirit. 
And  so  not  only  pardon,  but  the  Ploly  Spirit’s  power 
is  for  everyone  here  to-night  who  will  believe  on  the 
Lord  Jesus,  and  claim  it. 

5.  There  is  still  one  more  thing  that  Cornelius 


66 


HOW  TO  BE  SAVED 


did  that  needs  to  he  carefully  noted,  Cornelius  openly 
confessed  in  baptism  his  acceptance  of  Jesus  Christ 
and  his  identification  with  Him.  He  was  already 
saved.  He  already  had  God’s  seal  of  acceptance,  the 
definite,  conscious  work  of  the  Holy  Spirit,  but  that 
did  not  make  him  say,  “  There  is  no  need  that  I 
be  baptized.  I  have  got  everything  already.”  No, 
rather  it  made  him  say,  “  I  want  to  obey  God  and 
confess  my  faith  in  Jesus  Christ  in  God’s  appointed 
way,  by  baptism.”  The  faith  in  Jesus  Christ  that 
Cornelius  had  was  real,  saving  faith,  and  saving 
faith  always  leads  to  obedience,  and  the  Christ  in 
whom  Cornelius  believed  as  Saviour  and  Lord  had 
commanded  baptism,  so  he  was  baptized  right  off. 
And,  if  you  really  believe  in  Jesus  Christ,  you  will 
desire  to  obey  Christ  in  everything,  and  if  you  have 
not  been  baptized  already  you  will  desire  to  be  bap¬ 
tized,  and  even  if  you  have  been  baptized  already 
you  will  do  that  for  which  baptism  is  an  outward 
sign,  make  an  open  confession  of  your  acceptance 
of  Jesus  Christ  as  your  crucified,  dead  and  buried 
and  risen  Lord  and  Saviour. 

Salvation  is  open  to  everyone  here  to-night.  It 
cannot  be  obtained  by  any  amount  of  piety  toward 
God,  or  righteousness  toward  man,  or  generosity  in 
giving,  or  earnest  praying,  or  sincerity  in  the  search 
for  the  truth.  By  one  and  all,  good  and  bad,  moral 
and  immoral,  highly  respected  and  utterly  despised, 
it  must  be  obtained  in  the  same  way,  that  is  by  a 
simple  faith  in  Christ  Jesus,  who  died  for  us  on  the 
cross  of  Calvary  and  rose  again,  faith  in  Him  as 
your  Saviour  and  your  Lord.  Who  will  thus  put 
their  faith  in  Him  to-night? 


V 


“  SAVED  BY  A  CRY  ” 

“  Whosoever  shall  call  upon  the  name  of  the  Lord 
shall  he  saved/’ — Romans  10:13. 

THERE  is  no  excuse  for  any  man’s  not  know¬ 
ing  the  way  of  salvation,  for  the  Bible  makes 
it  as  plain  as  day.  There  is  no  excuse  for 
any  man’s  not  taking  the  way  of  salvation,  for  God 
has  made  that  way  so  simple  and  so  open  to  every¬ 
body  that  “  whosoever  will  ”  may  “  come.”  Many 
years  ago,  together  with  a  friend,  I  was  making  a 
pedestrian  tour  through  the  Saxon  Switzerland,  in 
Saxony,  Germany.  One  day  we  struck  off  from  the 
main  road  and  began  to  go  across  country  by  a  by¬ 
path.  We  suddenly  ran  upon  a  signboard  with  a 
crown  upon  it  and  the  information  that  that  road 
was  for  the  king  and  for  the  king  alone,  and  that 
common  mortals  were  not  allowed  that  way.  But 
God’s  way  of  salvation  is  open  to  all,  “  Whosoever 
shall  call  upon  the  name  of  the  Lord  shall  be 
saved.” 

The  way  of  salvation  is  stated  in  the  Bible  in  a 
variety  of  forms;  so  that  everybody  can  get  hold 
of  it.  In  one  place  we  are  told  that  we  are  saved 
by  just  coming  to  Jesus.  He  Himself  says,  in  Matt. 
11:28:  “  Come  unto  me,  all  ye  that  labour  and 

67 


68 


HOW  TO  BE  SAVED 


are  heavy  laden,  and  I  will  give  you  rest,”  and  He 
says  again  in  Jno.  6:37,  “Him  that  cometh  to  me 
I  will  in  no  wise  cast  out.”  In  another  place  we 
are  told  that  we  are  saved  by  just  believing  on  the 
Lord  Jesus.  Paul  said  to  the  jailor  of  Philippi 
when  the  jailor  had  cried,  “  Sirs,  what  must  I  do  to 
be  saved  ”,  “  Believe  on  the  Lord  Jesus  and 
thou  shalt  be  saved”  (Acts  16:31).  In  another 
place  we  are  told  that,  We  are  saved  by  just  receiv¬ 
ing  (or,  taking)  the  Lord  Jesus.  John’s  words  are, 
“As  many  as  received  him,  to  them  gave  he  the 
right  to  become  children  of  God,  even  to  them  that 
believe  on  his  name”  (Jno.  1:12).  In  still  another 
place  we  are  told  that,  We  are  saved  by  just  looking 
to  Jehovah,  Jesus.  Jehovah  says  in  Isa.  45:22, 
“  Look  unto  me,  and  be  ye  saved.” 

But  to  my  mind,  the  simplest  statement  of  all  is 
that  of  our  text  to-night,  where  we  are  told  that, 
We  are  saved  by  just  calling  on  the  name  of  the 
Lord,  “  Whosoever  shall  call  upon  the  name 
of  the  Lord  spiall  be  saved”  (Rom.  10:13). 
Saved  simply  by  a  cry,  a  cry  to  the  Lord  Jesus;  for 
that  Jesus  is  “  the  Lord”  in  this  passage  is  evident 
from  the  ninth  verse  of  the  same  chapter,  where  we 
are  told,  “  If  thou  shalt  confess  with  thy  mouth 
Jesus  as  Lord,  and  shalt  believe  in  thy  heart  that 
God  raised  him  from  the  dead,  thou  shalt  be  saved.” 

The  statement  of  the  way  of  salvation  contained 
in  our  text  is  so  simple  that  some  stumble  at  its  very 
simplicity.  “  Oh,”  they  say,  “  God  can’t  mean  that 
all  I  have  to  do  to  be  saved  is  just  to  cry  to  the 
Lord  Jesus,  simply  call  upon  the  name  of  the 


SAVED  BY  A  CRY 


69 


Lord.”  But  that  is  what  God  says,  and  do  you  not 
think  that  God  knows  enough  to  say  exactly  what 
He  means? 

In  order  that  there  might  be  no  possible  doubt  that 
He  meant  just  what  He  said,  God  has  put  this  state¬ 
ment  in  three  different  places  in  the  Bible.  You 
will  find  it  first  of  all  way  back  in  the  Old  Testa¬ 
ment,  in  Joel  2:32,  where  we  read,  “  Whosoever 
shall  call  on  the  name  of  Jehovah  shall  be  delivered.” 
Then  Peter  repeated  the  statement  on  the  Day  of 
Pentecost,  saying,  “  And  it  shall  be,  that  wThosoever 
shall  call  upon  the  name  of  the  Lord  shall  be  saved  ” 
(Acts  2:21),  and  Paul  repeats  it  again  here  in  our 
text,  Rom.  10:13,  “Whosoever  shall  call  upon  the 
name  of  the  Lord  shall  be  saved.”  It  is  very  seldom 
that  you  can  find  the  very  same  statement  made 
three  different  times  in  the  Word  of  God.  Can  you 
doubt  a  statement  God  takes  pains  to  repeat  three 
times ? 

And  that  is  not  all.  Besides  this,  God  gives  us  in 
the  Bible  a  number  of  examples  of  men  who  were 
saved  just  this  way,  just  by  a  cry,  just  by  calling  to 
the  Lord  Jesus  for  deliverance.  Peter  is  as  good 
an  example  as  any.  Peter  was  sinking  in  the  Sea  of 
Galilee  as  he  tried  to  walk  across  the  waves  to  meet 
Jesus,  and  in  his  terror  he  just  cried  to  Jesus,  just 
as  he  was  going  down,  “  Lord,  save  me.”  “  And 
immediately  Jesus  stretched  forth  his  hand  and  took 
hold  of  him”  (Matt.  14:30,  31).  Saved  just  by  a 
cry,  and  anyone  who  is  sinking  in  a  sea  of  sin  can 
be  saved  in  precisely  the  same  way.  Jesus  is  ready 
to  take  hold  of  you  to-night  if  you  only  cry  to  Him, 
and  if  He  takes  hold  of  you,  your  rescue  is  sure. 


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There  are  three  important  questions  suggested  by 
our  text: 

ist.  What  is  the  salvation  promised? 

2nd.  How  can  we  get  this  salvation? 

3rd.  Who  can  have  this  salvation? 

I.  What  is  the  Salvation  Promised? 

The  first  question  is,  “  What  is  the  salvation 
promised ?  ”  The  answer  to  this  question  is  very 
plain  and  very  easily  understood.  Listen  to  the  text 
again,  “  Whosoever  shall  call  on  the  name  of  the 
Lord  shall  be  saved.”  Saved  from  what?  If  you 
will  go  back  to  the  preceding  chapters  of  this  same 
book  from  which  our  text  is  taken  you  will  get  your 
answer. 

1.  First  of  all,  The  one  who  calls  on  the  name 
of  the  Lord  will  he  saved  from  the  guilt  of  sin. 
This  comes  out  in  the  third  chapter,  verses  23-26, 
“  For  all  have  sinned  and  fall  short  of  the  glory  of 
God ;  being  justified  freely  by  his  grace  through 
the  redemption  that  is  in  Christ  Jesus:  whom  God 
set  forth  to  be  a  propitiation,  through  faith,  in  his 
blood,  to  show  his  righteousness  because  of  the 
passing  over  of  the  sins  done  aforetime  in  the  for¬ 
bearance  of  God ;  for  the  showing,  I  say,  of  his 
righteousness  at  this  present  season :  that  he  might 
himself  be  just,  and  the  justifier  of  him  that  hath 
faith  in  Jesus.”  We  see  from  these  verses  that  the 
one  zvho  calls  on  the  Lord  Jesus  gets  for  himself  jus¬ 
tification,  i.  e.,  deliverance  from  condemnation,  salva¬ 
tion  from  the  guilt  of  sin,  that  the  Lord  Jesus  made 
possible  for  us  all  by  dying  as  a  propitiation  for  our 
sins  on  the  cross.  The  same  thought  of  salvation  is 


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71 


found  in  Gal.  3:10,  13,  “For  as  many  as  are  of 
works  of  the  law  are  under  a  curse ;  for  it  is  written. 
Cursed  is  everyone  who  continueth  not  in  all  things 
that  are  written  in  the  Book  of  the  Law  to  do  them. 
.  .  .  Christ  hath  redeemed  us  from  the  curse  of 

the  law,  having  become  a  curse  for  us ;  for  it  is  writ¬ 
ten,  Cursed  is  everyone  that  hangeth  on  a  tree.” 
Christ  took  our  place  on  the  cross  of  Calvary,  and 
the  moment  we  believe  on  Him  we  step  into  His 
place  of  perfect  acceptance  before  God ;  not  only  is 
every  one  of  our  sins  blotted  out,  but  His  perfect 
righteousness  is  put  to  our  account ;  and  the  simplest 
and  most  practical  way  of  expressing  our  faith  in 
Him  is  by  just  calling  upon  Him.  Crying  unto  Him 
for  pardon  is  the  proof  that  we  believe  on  Him; 
and  so  in  crying  unto  Him  we  are  thereby  justified. 
This  we  are  told  also  in  the  very  next  verse  to  our 
text,  Rom.  10:  14,  “  Hozv  then  shall  they  call  on  him 
in  zvhom  they  have  not  believed?  ”  The  moment  we 
thus  call  upon  the  Lord  Jesus,  all  our  sins  are 
blotted  out,  God  Himself  erases  everything  He  has 
in  His  books  against  us,  and  puts  the  perfect  right¬ 
eousness  and  acceptability  of  Christ  Jesus  to  our 
account. 

2.  But  that  is  not  all:  in  the  second  place,  The 
one  who  calls  on  the  name  of  the  Lord  Jesus  gets1 
salvation  from  the  power  of  sin.  This  we  see 
in  chapter  6,  verse  16,  compared  with  Jno.  8:  34,  36. 
In  Romans  6:16  we  read,  “Know  ye  not  that  to 
whom  ye  present  yourselves  as  servants  unto  obedi¬ 
ence,  his  servants  ye  are  whom  ye  obey ;  whether 
of  sin  unto  death,  or  of  obedience  unto  righteous¬ 
ness?”  The  word  translated  “servants”  in  this 


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verse,  means  literally  “  slaves.”  Every  sinner  is  a 
slave  of  the  sin  to  which  he  has  yielded  obedience, 
but  the  moment  he  calls  upon  the  Lord  Jesus  he  gets 
deliverance  from  this  bondage ,  just  as  the  demoniac 
who  cried  to  the  Lord  got  deliverance  from  his  bond¬ 
age  to  the  demon,  and  the  leper  who  cried  to  the 
Lord  got  deliverance  from  his  leprosy.  The  Lord 
Jesus  Himself  puts  it  this  way  in  John  8:36,  “If 
therefore  the  Son  shall  make  you  free,  ye  shall  be 
free  indeed.” 

Our  Lord  Jesus  not  only  died  for  us,  and  thus 
made  salvation  from  the  guilt  of  sin  possible  for  us, 
but  He  also  rose  again  and  thus  also  made  salvation 
from  the  power  of  sin  possible  for  us.  This  thought 
of  the  saving  power  of  the  risen  Lord  Jesus  comes 
out  right  in  the  same  chapter  from  which  our  text  is 
taken,  three  verses  back,  “  If  thou  shalt  confess  with 
thy  mouth  Jesus  as  Lord,  and  shalt  believe  in  thine 
heart  that  God  raised  him  from  the  dead,  thou  shalt 
be  saved:  for  with  the  heart  man  believeth  unto 
righteousness,  and  with  the  mouth  confession  is 
made  unto  salvation”  (verses  9,  10). 

3.  In  the  third  place,  The  one  who  calls  on  the 
name  of  the  Lord  gets  also  salvation  from  the 
penalty  of  sin.  This  also  we  see  in  chapter  6, 
verse  23,  “  For  the  wages  of  sin  is  death,  but  the 
free  gift  of  God  is  eternal  life  in  Christ  Jesus,  our 
Lord.”  The  one  who  calls  upon  the  name  of  the 
Lord,  and  the  context  shows  that  the  Lord  here 
meant  is  the  Lord  Jesus  (verse  9),  the  one  who 
cries  unto  Jesus  as  his  Divine  Lord,  for  deliverance, 
gets  deliverance  from  the  death  that  is  the  penalty 
of  sin.  What  this  “  death  ”  is  in  its  full  outworking 


SAVED  BY  A  CRY 


73 


and  significance  we  see  in  Rev.  21 : 8,  “  The  fearful, 
and  unbelieving,  and  abominable,  and  murderers,  and 
whoremongers,  and  sorcerers,  and  idolaters,  and 
all  liars,  shall  have  their  part  in  the  lake  which 
burneth  with  fire  and  brimstone:  which  is  the  second 
death  .”  Hell,  in  spite  of  all  its  awful  and  everlast¬ 
ing  shame  and  pain,  has  no  terrors  whatever  for  the 
one  who  calls  upon  the  name  of  the  Lord  Jesus;  for 
he  knows  on  the  authority  of  God’s  own  sure  word 
that  no  matter  how  great  a  sinner  he  may  have  been, 
he  has  no  part  in  the  eternal  shame  and  torment 
of  hell. 

To  sum  it  ail  up:  Salvation  from  the  guilt  of  sin, 
Salvation  from  the  power  of  sin,  Salvation  from  the 
eternal  penalty  of  sin,  is  the  salvation  one  gets  by 
just  calling  on  the  Lord  Jesus  for  such  salvation. 
That  certainly  is  a  glorious  salvation.  But  even  that 
is  not  all ;  for  we  are  not  only  saved  from  something, 
but  we  are  saved  to  something.  We  are  not  only 
saved  from  the  guilt  of  sin  and  from  the  powrer  of 
sin  and  from  the  eternal  penalty  of  sin,  but  we  are 
saved  to  liberty,  to  sonship  of  God,  and  to  an  in¬ 
heritance,  even  a  “  Joint  Inheritance  with  Jesus 
Christ  ”  Himself.  This  we  read  in  the  eighth  chapter 
and  second  verse,  “  For  the  law  of  the  spirit  of  life 
in  Christ  Jesus  made  me  free  from  the  law  of  sin 
and  death,”  and  in  the  fourteenth  verse,  “  For  as 
many  as  are  led  by  the  spirit  of  God,  these  are  the 
sons  of  God,”  and  in  verses  16,  17,  “  The  Spirit  him¬ 
self,  beareth  witness  with  our  spirit,  that  we  are 
children  of  God :  and  if  children,  then  heirs ;  heirs 
of  God,  and  joint  heirs  with  Christ.” 


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II.  How  Can  We  Get  This  Salvation? 

Now  the  question  arises,  How  can  we  get  this 
salvation ?  The  text  tells  us  that  we  get  this  salvation 
by  simply  calling  “ Upon  the  name  of  the  Lord”: 
“  Whosoever  shall  call  upon  the  name  of  the  Lord 
shall  be  saved.” 

What  does  it  mean  to  “  Call  upon  the  name  of  the 
Lord?”  It  means  just  what  it  says,  all  any  one  of 
you  has  to  do  to  be  saved  is  to  call  upon  the  Lord 
Jesus  (verse  9)  to  save  you.  This  is  evident  from 
the  preceding  verse,  “  For  there  is  no  distinction  be¬ 
tween  the  Jew  and  Greek:  for  the  same  Lord  is 
Lord  of  all,  and  is  rich  unto  all  that  call  upon  him.” 
Bartimaeus  was  blind,  and  he  got  sight  by  crying, 
“ Jesus,  thou  son  of  David,  have  mercy  on  me” 
(Mark  10:47  ff-)-  The  leper  got  cleansing  by  cry¬ 
ing  to  the  Lord  Jesus,  “  If  thou  wilt,  thou  canst 
make  me  clean,”  “  And  being  moved  with  compas¬ 
sion,  he  (that  is,  Jesus)  stretched  forth  his  hand 
and  touched  him,  and  saith  unto  him,  I  will,  be  thou 
made  clean”  (Mark  1:40,  41).  The  publican  got 
pardon  by  just  crying,  “  God,  be  merciful  to  me,  a 
sinner,”  and  so  we  get  salvation  from  the  guilt, 

THE  POWER  AND  THE  PENALTY  OF  SIN  BY  JUST  CRY¬ 
ING  to  the  Lord  Jesus  for  it. 

Of  course,  the  cry  to  the  Lord  Jesus  that  really 
gets  salvation  must  be  a  real  cry,  it  must  be  genuine, 
it  must  be  sincere,  it  must  be  honest.  I  hear  a  good 
many  call,  “  Lord  Jesus,  save-  me,”  and  they  do  not 
get  saved.  Why?  Because  the  cry  is  not  real,  it 
is  not  genuine,  it  is  not  sincere,  it  is  not  honest,  it 
is  not  earnest. 

\ 


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75 


What  does  a  real  call  upon  the  Lord  Jesus  for 
salvation  imply  f 

i.  First  of  all,  A  real  call  upon  the  Lord  Jesus 
implies  a  realization  that  we  need  salvation,  a  real¬ 
ization  that  we  are  sinners,  a  realization  that  we  are 
lost.  No  man  is  going  to  call  upon  the  Lord  for 
salvation  in  any  real  way  if  he  does  not  realize  that 
he  needs  to  he  saved.  To  call  upon  the  Lord  Jesus 
to  save  you  when  you  do  not  know  you  are  really 
lost,  or  do  not  believe  you  are  really  lost,  is  a 
mockery. 

A  good  many,  however,  call  upon  the  Lord  Jesus 
in  these  days  without  any  genuine  realization  that 
they  are  lost.  A  good  many  cry  in  this  day,  “  Lord 
Jesus,  save  me,”  and  yet  if  you  should  ask  them, 
“  Do  you  really  believe  you  are  lost,  do  you  really 
believe  you  are  a  guilty  sinner  before  a  Holy  God, 
do  you  really  believe  you  are  under  the  curse  of  the 
law  of  God  which  you  have  broken,  do  you  realize 
you  are  a  slave  to  sin,  do  you  realize  you  are  sink¬ 
ing  down  into  an  everlasting  hell,  do  you  believe  that 
you  are  a  poor,  vile,  miserable,  worthless,  hell¬ 
deserving  sinner,”  they  would  very  likely  flare  up 
and  say,  “  I  am  nothing  of  the  kind,  I  am  just  as 
good  as  you  are.  I  don’t  believe  that  old  worn-out 
superstition  about  human  depravity  and  everlasting 
perdition,  and  all  that.”  Well,  then,  you  cannot  gen¬ 
uinely  call  upon  the  Lord  Jesus  to  save  you,  and  you 
cannot  be  genuinely  saved.  You  are  mocking  God 
when  you  do  call  upon  the  Lord  for  salvation  when 
you  do  not  really  think  you  are  lost,  hopelessly  lost, 
without  the  Lord  Jesus.  There  is  no  more  hideous 


76 


HOW  TO  BE  SAVED 


mockery  than  for  a  man  who  does  not  believe  that 
he  is  lost,  to  call  on  the  Lord  Jesus  to  save  him. 

2.  In  the  second  place,  A  real  calling  upon  the 
Lord  Jesus  to  save,  implies  a  sincere  desire  for 
salvation.  A  great  many  men  call  upon  the  Lord 
Jesus  to  save  them  who  do  not  really  desire  to  be 
saved,  they  think  they  do,  but  they  don’t.  I  have 
seen  men  kneel  down  and  cry,  “  Lord  Jesus,  save 
me,”  and  they  did  not  want  a  bit  to  be  saved.  Per¬ 
haps  they  thought  they  did.  They  wished  to  be 
saved  from  hell,  but  that  is  not  the  essential  point 
of  salvation.  Everybody  wants  to  be  saved  from 
hell.  Even  the  rankest  infidels  want  to  be  saved 
from  hell.  Nobody  wants  to  spend  eternity  in  hell. 
But  being  saved  from  hell  is  not  the  essential  thing 
in  real  salvation,  and  desiring  merely  to  be  saved 
from  hell  is  not  really  desiring  to  be  saved.  Many 
desire  to  be  saved  from  the  trouble  and  misery  that 
sin  has  gotten  them  into.  There  is  not  a  person  in 
the  county  jail  that  does  not  want  to  get  out.  But 
desiring  to  be  saved  from  the  consequences  of  sin  is 
not  a  true  desire  for  salvation.  A  true  desire  for 
salvation  is  a  desire  for  salvation  from  sin  itself, 
that  is  the  most  important  thing  about  it ;  and  the 
man  who  does  not  desire  to  give  up  all  sin,  and  not 
merely  the  sins  that  are  getting  him  into  trouble, 
does  not  really  desire  to  be  saved,  and  a  call  of  such 
a  person  upon  the  Lord  Jesus  is  a  mockery  and  will 
do  him  no  more  good  than  whistling  “  I  want  to  be 
an  angel.”  This  is  why  the  cries  of  many  of  you 
for  salvation  do  you  no  good  whatever.  You  don’t 
really  wish  to  be  saved  from  sin,  but  merely  from 
the  unpleasant  consequences  of  sin.  A  man  in  Chi- 


SAVED  BY  A  CRY 


77 


cago  was  once  lamenting  to  a  friend  of  mine  that 
he  could  not  be  saved.  My  friend  answered  bluntly, 
“  You  don’t  want  to  be  saved.”  “  Yes,  I  do,”  the 
man  answered  with  tears.  “  No,  you  don’t,”  my 
friend  insisted.  Then  he  asked  him,  “  Do  you  want 
to  quit  drinking?”  The  man  was  silent  a  while  and 
then  said,  “  I  don’t  know  as  I  do.”  That  is  the  way 
with  thousands.  Others  may  wish  to  quit  drinking, 
but  there  are  other  sins  they  do  not  wish  to  quit. 
Do  you  really  desire  to  quit  all  sin,  to  quit  doing 
anything  and  everything  that  displeases  God?  If 
you  do,  you  have  a  real  desire  for  salvation,  and  if 
you  cry  to  the  Lord  Jesus  He  will  save  you, 
“  Blessed  are  they,”  says  Jesus  Christ,  “who  hunger 
and  thirst  after  righteousness :  for  they  shall  be 
filled”  (Matt.  5:6). 

The  desire  for  salvation  must,  of  course,  also  be 
earnest,  it  must  be  a  desire  to  be  saved  at  any  cost. 
When  a  man  so  earnestly  desires  salvation  from  the 
guilt,  the  power  and  the  consequences  of  sin,  that  he 
is  willing  to  pay  any  price  to  get  it,  he  will  get  it ; 
and  not  until  then.  God  says  in  Jeremiah  29:13, 
“  Ye  shall  seek  me  and  find  me,  when  ye  shall  search 
for  me  with  all  your  heart  ” 

3.  In  the  third  place,  A  real  calling  upon  the 
name  of  the  Lord  for  salvation  implies  a  throwing 
away  of  all  confidence  in  anyone  else  and  in  any¬ 
thing  else  and  everything  else  as  a  zvay  of 
salvation.  The  man  who  is  trying  to  save  him¬ 
self  cannot  honestly  call  upon  the  Lord  Jesus  to 
save  him ;  and  the  man  who  is  trusting  in  his  own 
good  works,  his  own  personal  piety  and  his  own 
benevolence,  his  turning  over  a  new  leaf  or  any 


78 


HOW  TO  BE  SAVED 


other  thing  he  can  do,  to  save  him,  cannot  truly  call 
on  the  Lord.  This  is  the  trouble  with  many  of  you, 
you  have  not  gotten  to  the  end  of  yourself  and  your 
own  efforts;  you  still  hope  to  do  something  to  com¬ 
mend  you  to  the  Lord.  It  is  the  man  who  realizes 
his  own  helplessness,  his  own  inability  to  do  anything 
to  cover  his  guilt  or  to  break  away  from  sin  or  to 
escape  its  consequences,  that  can  throw  himself  in 
utter  helplessness  on  the  Lord  Jesus  and  just  cry 
unto  Him  to  save  him,  just  cry  as  poor,  sinking 
Peter  cried,  “  Lord,  save  me.” 

4.  There  is  one  more  thing  that  An  honest  call 
upon  the  Lord  Jesus  implies,  and  that  is  faith  in 
him,  faith  in  his  power  to  save.  This  comes  out  in 
the  verse  immediately  following  our  text,  Rom. 
10:  14,  “How  then  shall  they  call  on  him  in  whom 
they  have  not  believed ?”  If  my  cry  to  the  Lord 
Jesus  means  anything,  it  means  this :  faith  that  Jesus 
can  and  will  save  me.  This  faith  may  not  be  very 
strong,  it  may  not  be  very  confident,  it  may  be  very 
weak,  but  there  must  be  faith  enough  to  call  with 
some  expectation,  no  matter  how  small,  that  we  shall 
be  saved.  We  may  have  to  come  to  Jesus  with  just 
a  little  faith,  like  the  man  whose  son  was  a  demoniac, 
and  he  cried  to  Jesus,  “If  thou  canst  do  anything, 
have  compassion  on  us  and  help  us.”  Jesus,  as  you 
know,  said  unto  him,  “If  thou  canst  believe,  all 
things  are  possible  to  him  that  believeth.”  “  And 
straightway  the  father  of  the  child  cried  out,  and 
said  with  tears,  Lord,  I  believe ;  help  thou  mine  un¬ 
belief/'  And  the  Lord  Jesus  did  respond  to  his 
feeble  faith,  and  helped  his  unbelief  by  doing  what 
he  sought  (Mark  9:22,  27)  ;  and  so  will  He  do  for 


SAVED  BY  A  CRY 


79 


us  if  we  come  in  that  honest,  earnest  way,  even 
though  our  faith  is  small.  All  one  needs  to  do 

THEN,  IN  ORDER  TO  BE  SAVED  IS,  FIRST  OF  ALL,  TO 
REALIZE  HIS  OWN  NEED  OF  SALVATION  ;  SECOND,  TO 
EARNESTLY  DESIRE  TO  BE  SAVED;  THIRD,  TO  THROW 
AWAY  ALL  TRUST  IN  ANYONE  AND  ANYTHING  ELSE 

but  in  Jesus  Christ;  and  fourth,  to  believe  He 

CAN  AND  WILL  SAVE,  AND  THEN  JUST  CALL  UPON 

Him  to  do  it.  That  is  all,  44  Whosoever  shall  call 
upon  the  name  of  the  Lord  shall  be  saved”  (Rom. 
10:13). 

III.  Who  Can  Have  This  Salvation? 

Now,  just  a  few  words  on,  “  Who  can  have  this 
salvation.”  The  answer  to  this  question  is  very 
plain,  as  set  forth  in  the  text,  “Whosoever  shall 
call  upon  the  name  of  the  Lord  shall  be  saved  ” 
(Rom.  10:13).  The  Greek  words  translated, 
44  whosoever,”  mean  “  everyone  who.”  I  sometimes 
wish  that  the  verse  had  been  translated  literally  and 
so  read  in  this  way,  “  Everyone  who  shall  call  upon 
the  name  of  the  Lord  shall  be  saved.”  That  surely 
means  everybody.  It  means  rich  or  poor,  wise  or 
foolish,  learned  or  ignorant,  good  or  bad,  moral  or 
vicious.  John  Berridge  once  said  in  preaching  on 
this  text,  44  I  would  much  rather  it  be  written  4  who¬ 
soever  shall  call  upon  the  name  of  the  Lord  shall  be 
saved/  than,  4  If  John  Berridge  shall  call  on  the 
name  of  the  Lord,  John  Berridge  shall  be  saved/ 
because  how  do  I  know  but  that  there  might  be  an¬ 
other  John  Berridge  in  the  world  to  whom  these 
words  were  addressed?  But  when  I  read,  4  Whoso¬ 
ever  shall  call  on  the  name  of  the  Lord  shall  be 


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HOW  TO  BE  SAVED 


saved/  I  know  I  must  be  included.”  Yes,  thank 
God,  that  is  the  way  it  reads,  “  Whosoever  (or, 
everyone  who)  shall  call  upon  the  name  of  the  Lord 
shall  be  saved.”  The  good  man  can  get  salvation 
in  this  way  and  in  no  other  way ,  and  the  bad  man 
can  get  salvation  in  this  way  and  in  no  other  way. 
All  any  man  needs  to  know  in  order  to  be  saved  is 
just  enough  to  call  upon  the  name  of  the  Lord  Jesus. 
The  skeptic  may  be  saved  this  way.  He  may  have 
many  doubts,  but  if  he  believes  he  is  lost  and  honestly 
desires  to  be  saved,  and  will  throw  away  confidence 
in  everyone  and  everything  else,  and  have  enough 
faith  to  just  call,  even  though  it  be  almost  in  despair, 
on  the  Lord  Jesus,  he  can  put  to  a  practical  test  this 
promise,  “  Whosoever  shall  call  on  the  name  of  the 
Lord  shall  be  saved.”  Many  are  saying,  “  I  have 
sinned  away  the  day  of  grace  and  therefore  I  cannot 
be  saved,”  but  God  says,  “  Whosoever  shall  call  upon 
the  name  of  the  Lord  shall  be  saved.”  All  you  then, 
as  well  as  anybody  else,  have  to  do  is  just  to  call. 
Just  call  then.  Another  says,  “  I  have  committed 
the  unpardonable  sin,  therefore  there  is  no  hope  for 
me,”  but  God  says,  “  Whosoever  shall  call  upon  the 
name  of  the  Lord  shall  be  saved.”  Just  call,  then. 
Another  says,  “  But  my  sins  have  been  so  many  and 
so  black  there  is  no  hope  for  me,”  but  God  says, 
“  Whosoever  shall  call  upon  the  name  of  the  Lord 
shall  be  saved.”  Just  call,  then.  Another  says, 
“  But  I  have  had  so  much  light  and  sinned  against  it, 
there  certainly  can  be  no  hope  for  me,”  but  God 
says,  “  Whosoever  shall  call  upon  the  name  of  the 
Lord  shall  be  saved.”  Just  call,  then.  But  another 
says,  “  I  have  no  feeling,  my  heart  is  hard  as  a  stone. 


SAVED  BY  A  CRY 


81 


Surely  there  is  no  hope  for  me,”  but  God  says, 
“  Whosoever  shall  call  upon  the  name  of  the  Lord 
shall  be  saved.”  Just  call,  then.  But  another  says, 
“  I  am  sure  I  cannot  hold  out  even  if  I  start,  so 
there  is  no  hope  for  me,”  but  God  says,  “  Whosoever 
shall  call  on  the  name  of  the  Lord  shall  be  saved.” 
Just  call,  then.  44  Whosoever,”  "  Whosoever,” 
“Whosoever.”  This  wonderful  text  sweeps  away 
all  our  excuses.  It  throws  the  door  wide  open  for 
anyone  here  to-night  who  has  any  real  desire  to  be 
saved,  to  enter.  “  Some  old  divine  pictured  Peter 
preaching  on  the  Day  of  Pentecost,  a  man  pushed 
his  way  through  the  crowd  and  said,  *  Peter,  do  you 
think  there  is  hope  for  me?  I  am  the  man  who 
made  that  crown  of  thorns  and  placed  them  upon 
Christ’s  brow,  do  you  think  He  will  save  me?’ 
4  Yes,’  said  Peter,  4  Whosoever  shall  call  upon  the 
name  of  the  Lord  shall  be  saved,’  and  you  are  a 
44  Whosoever ;”  if  you  call  he  will  hear  your  cry. 
He  will  answer  your  prayer  and  save  you/  Another 
man  pushed  his  way  up  and  said,  4  Peter,  I  am  the 
man  who  took  the  reed  out  of  his  hand  and  drove 
it  upon  that  cruel  crown  of  thorns,  sending  it  into 
his  brow;  do  you  think  he  will  save  me?’  4  Yes/ 
said  Peter,  4  Whosoever  shall  call  upon  the  name  of 
the  Lord  shall  be  saved/  You  are  a  44  Whosoever,” 
and  you  call  upon  the  name  of  the  Lord  and  you 
shall  be  saved/  Another  man,  elbowing  his  way 
through  the  crowd,  pushed  up  to  Peter  and  said,  4 1 
am  the  Roman  soldier  who  took  the  spear  and  thrust 
it  to  his  heart,  when  there  came  out  blood  and  water ; 
do  you  think  there  is  hope  for  me?’  4  Yes/  said 
Peter,  4  There  is  a  nearer  way  of  reaching  his  heart 


§2  HOW  TO  BE  SAVED 

than  that:  ‘Whosoever  shall  call  upon  the  name  of 
the  Lord  shall  be  saved  ’  ( Pith  &  Point  in  Story  and 
Saying,  pp.  1 6,  17).  Yes,  it  is  true,  “Whosoever,” 
“  Whosoever  ”  “  Whosoever  ”  shall  call  upon  the 
name  of  the  Lord  shall  be  saved.”  Who  will  call 
to-night?  Who  will  awaken  to-night  to  the  fact  that 
you  need  salvation,  that  you  are  a  poor,  vile,  lost, 
worthless,  miserable,  hell-deserving  sinner?  Who 
will  let  God  to-night  put  into  his  heart  a  real  desire 
to  be  saved,  to  be  saved  not  merely  from  the  un¬ 
pleasant  consequences  of  sin  but  to  be  saved  from 
sin  itself?  Who  will  right  now  throw  away  all  con¬ 
fidence  in  any  one  else  or  in  anything  else  and  every¬ 
thing  else  as  a  way  of  salvation,  except  the  crucified 
and  risen  Son  of  God?  Who  will  to-night  put  faith 
enough  in  Jesus  Christ  and  Jesus  Christ’s  ability  to 
save  him,  just  to  call  upon  Him,  even  though  it  be 
with  very  feeble  expectation  of  being  heard?  Salva¬ 
tion  stands  waiting  at  the  door  to  enter  the  heart  and 
life  of  every  unsaved  man,  woman  and  child  here 
to-night.  All  you  have  to  do  to  open  the  door  wide 
for  salvation  is  just  to  “  call  upon  the  name  of  the 
Lord”  Jesus.  Will  you  do  it  right  now? 


VI 


HOW  TO  BE  UNSPEAKABLY  HAPPY 
AT  ALL  TIMES  AND  UNDER 
ALL  CIRCUMSTANCES 

"  Whom,  not  having  seen  ye  love;  on  whom, 
though  now  ye  see  him  not,  yet  BELIEVING,  ye 
rejoice  greatly  with  joy  unspeakable  and  full  of 
glory’’ — I  Peter  i  : 8. 

1HAVE  here  a  beautiful  text,  a  text  that  you 
all  know,  but  I  wonder  how  many  of  you  have 
ever  pondered  it  enough  to  take  in  all  its  won¬ 
derful  wealth  of  meaning? 

A  young  woman  in  England  many  years  ago  al¬ 
ways  wore  a  golden  locket  that  she  would  not  allow 
anyone  to  open  or  look  into,  and  everyone  thought 
there  must  be  some  romance  connected  with  that 
locket  and  that  in  that  locket  must  be  the  picture  of 
the  one  she  loved.  The  young  woman  died  at  an 
early  age,  and  after  her  death  the  locket  was  opened, 
everyone  wondering  whose  face  they  would  find 
within.  And  in  the  locket  was  found  simply  a  little 
slip  of  paper  with  these  words  written  upon  it, 
“  Whom  having  not  seen,  I  love.”  Her  Lord  Jesus 
was  the  only  Lover  she  knew  and  the  only  Lover 
she  longed  for,  and  she  had  gone  to  be  with  Him, 

83 


84 


HOW  TO  BE  SAVED 


the  one  object  of  her  whole  heart’s  devotion,  the  un¬ 
seen  but  beloved  Saviour. 

But  it  is  to  the  last  part  of  the  verse  that  I  wish 
to  call  your  particular  attention  to-night,  “  On  whom, 
though  now  ye  see  him  not,  yet  believing,  ye  rejoice 
greatly  with  joy  unspeakable  and  full  of  glory.” 

This  text  informs  us  (and  many  of  us  do  not  need 
to  be  informed  of  it,  for  we  know  it  by  blessed  ex¬ 
perience)  that  the  one  who  really  believes  on  Jesus 
Christ,  our  unseen,  but  ever  living  Lord  and 
Saviour,  rejoices  with  “joy  unspeakable  and  full 
of  glory.”  The  Greek  word  translated  “joy”  is  a 
very  strong  word,  describing  extreme  joy  or  exult¬ 
ant  joy.  The  word  “  unspeakable  ”  declares  that  this 
exultant  joy  is  of  such  a  character  that  we  cannot, 
by  any  possibility,  tell  it  all  out  to  others.  Every¬ 
one  who  really  believes  on  the  Lord  Jesus  does  re¬ 
joice  with  an  exultant  joy  that  is  beyond  all  descrip¬ 
tion.  And  those  who  do  truly  believe  on  the  Lord 
Jesus  Christ  are  the  only  ones  who  do  thus  rejoice. 
Others  may  have  a  certain  amount  of  joy,  a  certain 
measure  of  gladness,  but  the  only  people  who  really 
know  “joy  unspeakable  and  full  of  glory ”  are  those 
who  really  believe  on  Jesus  Christ. 

Who  is  there  among  us  who  does  not  wish  to  be 
happy  ?  Happiness  is  the  one  thing  all  men  are 
seeking.  One  man  seeks  it  in  one  way,  and  another 
man  seeks  it  in  another  way,  but  all  men  are  in  pur¬ 
suit  of  it.  Even  the  man  who  is  “  happy  only  when 
he  is  miserable,”  is  seeking  happiness  in  this ‘strange 
way  of  cultivating  a  delightful  melancholy  by  always 
looking  on  the  dark  side  of  things.  One  man  seeks 
money  because  he  thinks  that  money  will  make  a 


HOW  TO  BE  HAPPY 


85 


man  happy.  Another  man  seeks  worldly  pleasure 
because  he  thinks  that  worldly  pleasure  will  make  a 
man  happy.  Still  another  seeks  learning,  the  knowl¬ 
edge  of  science,  or  philosophy,  or  history,  or  litera¬ 
ture,  because  he  thinks  that  learning  brings  the  true 
joy ;  but  they  are  all  in  pursuit  of  the  one  thing, 
happiness. 

The  vast  majority  of  men  who  seek  happiness  do 
not  find  it.  You  may  say  what  you  please,  but  for 
the  majority  of  men  this  is  an  unhappy  world.  I 
go  down  into  the  houses  of  the  poor,  I  do  not  find 
many  happy  people  there.  I  go  into  the  homes  of 
the  rich,  I  do  not  find  many  happy  people  even  there. 
Study  the  faces  of  the  people  you  meet  on  the  cars, 
on  the  street,  at  entertainments,  or  anywhere  else, 
how  many  really  radiant  faces  do  you  see?  When 
you  do  see  one  it  is  so  exceptional  that  you  note  it 
at  once.  But  there  is  a  way,  and  a  very  simple  way, 
a  very  sure  way,  and  a  way  that  is  open  to  all,  not 
only  to  find  happiness,  but  to  be  unspeakably  happy. 
Our  text  tells  us  what  that  way  is.  Listen,  “  On 
zi thorn,  though  now  ye  see  him  not,  yet  believing, 
ye  rejoice  greatly  zvith  joy  unspeakable  and  full  of 
glory  ”  This  statement  of  Peter’s  is  true.  How  do 
I  know  it  is  true?  In  the  first  place,  I  know  it  is 
true  because  the  Word  of  God  says  so.  Whatever 
this  book  says  is  true.  In  the  second  place,  I  know 
it  is  true  because  I  have  put  the  matter  to  the  test 
of  personal  experiment,  and  found  it  true.  A  good 
many  people  say,  “  I  do  not  believe  the  Bible.” 
Well,  I  do.  I  believe  the  Bible  for  a  good  many 
sufficient  reasons ;  but  there  is  this  one  reason  why 
I  believe  the  Bible  that  I  wish  to  mention  to-night. 


.86 


HOW  TO  BE  SAVED 


I  believe  the  Bible  because  I  have  personally  tested 
scores  and  scores  of  its  most  astonishing  and  appar¬ 
ently  most  incredible  statements  and  found  every 
one  of  them  true  in  my  own  experience.  Do  you 
not  think  if  I  knew  a  man  who  made  very  many 
statements  that  I  could  test  for  myself,  some  of  them 
apparently  incredible,  and  I  tested  these  statements 
one  after  another  through  a  long  period  of  years, 
and  found  everyone  of  them  true,  and  never  one 
single  statement  failed,  do  you  not  think  that  I  would 
believe  that  man  after  a  while?  Well,  that  is  just 
my  experience  with  the  Bible,  and  I  believe  it.  I 
would  be  a  fool  if  I  did  not.  The  statement  of  the 
text  is  one  of  those  that  I  have  tested,  and  I  have 
found  it  true. 

I  was  not  always  happy.  Indeed,  I  was  once  un¬ 
speakably  miserable.  I  had  sought  happiness  very 
earnestly.  I  had  sought  happiness  in  gaiety  and  sin, 
and  found,  not  joy,  but  wretchedness.  In  my  pur¬ 
suit  of  happiness  I  had  tried  study,  the  study  of  lan¬ 
guages,  science,  philosophy  and  literature,  but  I  did 
not  find  happiness  in  these  things.  At  last  I  turned 
to  Jesus  Christ  and  believed  on  Him,  and  I  found 
not  merely  happiness,  but  something  better,  joy, 
“  joy  unspeakable  and  full  of  glory.”  Whatever 
Heaven  may  be  or  may  not  be,  I  know  that  on  this 
earth  the  one  who  really  believes  on  Jesus  Christ, 
the  one  who  puts  himself  in  Christ’s  hands,  to  be 
led,  and  taught,  and  guided,  and  strengthened,  puts 
himself  in  the  hands  of  Jesus  Christ  for  Jesus  Christ 
to  do  all  He  will  with  him,  I  know  that  such  a  per¬ 
son  finds  “  joy  unspeakable  and  full  of  glory.” 


HOW  TO  BE  HAPPY 


87 


I.  Why  Those  Who  Believe  in  Jesus  Christ 
Have  Joy  Unspeakable  and  Full  of  Glory 
Why  do  those  who  believe  in  Jesus  Christ  have 
“joy  unspeakable  and  full  of  glory”? 

i.  First  of  all,  Those  who  believe  on  Jesus  Christ 
have  “joy  unspeakable  and  full  of  glory ”  because 
they  know  that  their  sins  are  all  forgiven.  It  is  a 
wonderful  thing  to  know  that  your  sins  are  all  for¬ 
given,  to  know  that  there  is  not  one  single,  slightest 
cloud  between  you  and  God,  to  know  that  no  matter 
how  many,  or  how  great  your  sins  may  have  been, 
that  they  are  all  blotted  out,  to  know  that  God  has 


/ 


put  them  all  behind  His  back  where  no  one  can 
ever  get  at  them,  to  know  that  God  has  sunken  all 
your  sins  in  the  depths  of  the  sea  from  which  they 
can  never  be  raised ;  that  they  are  all  gone.  A  little 
boy  once  asked  his  mother,  “  Mother,  where  are  our 
sins  after  they  are  blotted  out?”  His  mother  re¬ 
plied,  “  My  boy,  where  are  those  figures  that  were 
on  your  slate  yesterday  ?  ”  He  answered,  “  I  rubbed 
them  out.”  Then  she  asked,  “  Where  are  they 
now?”  He  replied,  “They  are  nowhere.”  “Well,” 
she  said,  “  That  is  just  so  with  your  sins  when  God 
has  blotted  them  out.  They  are  nowhere.  They 
have  ceased  to  be.”  Oh,  friends,  what  a  joy  it  is 
to  know  that  there  is  not  one  single  smallest  cloud 
between  you  and  the  Holy  God  whom  we  call 
Father  and  Who  rules  this  universe.  Suppose  that 
you  had  offended  against  the  laws  of  the  nation  and 
had  been  committed  to  prison  on  a  life  sentence,  and 
a  pardon  were  brought  you,  do  you  not  think  you 
would  be  happy  ?  But  that  is  nothing  compared 


88 


HOW  TO  BE  SAVED 


with  the  joy  of  knowing  that  your  every  sin  is 
blotted  out.  Some  years  ago  Governor  Stuart  of 
Pennsylvania  determined  to  pardon  one  of  the  prison¬ 
ers  in  the  Pennsylvania  state’s  prison,  so  he  sent  for 
Mr.  Moody  and  said  to  him,  “  I  have  determined  to 
pardon  one  of  the  prisoners  in  our  state’s  prison, 
and  I  want  you  to  go  and  take  the  pardon  to  him. 
You  can  preach  to  the  prisoners  if  you  want  to  while 
you  are  doing  it.”  So  Mr.  Moody  went,  carrying 
the  pardon  with  him,  and  before  he  began  to  preach 
he  said,  “  I  have  a  pardon  for  one  of  you  men  that 
the  Governor  has  sent  by  me.”  He  did  not  intend 
to  tell  who  it  was  who  was  pardoned  until  the  ser¬ 
mon  was  over,  but  as  he  looked  around  upon  his 
audience  and  saw  how  anxious  they  all  were,  how 
eager  they  were,  how  a  very  agony  of  suspense  was 
in  their  faces,  Mr.  Moody  thought,  “  This  will  never 
do,  I  can’t  keep  these  men  in  this  suspense,”  so  he 
said,  “  I  will  tell  you  now  who  the  man  is,”  and  he 
read  his  name  from  the  pardon.  Do  you  not  think 
that  that  was  a  glad  moment  for  that  one  man  out 
of  those  hundreds  of  prisoners,  a  glad  moment  for 
the  one  man  who  had  the  Governor’s  pardon,  and 
who  could  walk  out  of  prison  a  free  man?  Ah,  but 
that  is  nothing  to  knowing  that  the  eternal  God  has 
eternally  pardoned  your  sins.  Every  true  Christian 
knows  that,  he  knows  that  every  one  of  his  sins  is 
forgiven.  How  does  he  know  it?  Because  the 
Bible  says  so  in  many  places.  It  says  for  example, 
in  Acts  13:39,  “  By  him  everyone  that  believeth  is 
justified  from  all  things,”  so  we  know  it  because  God 
says  so.  But  no  one  but  the  believer  on  Jesus  Christ 
knows  that  his  sins  are  all  forgiven.  If  anyone  who 


HOW  TO  BE  HAPPY 


89 


is  not  a  believer  on  Jesus  Christ  says,  “  I  know  my 
sins  are  all  forgiven,”  he  says  what  is  not  true;  for 
they  do  not  know  it,  and  cannot  know  it,  for  it  is 
not  a  fact:  but  a  Christian  knows  it  because  the 
Word  of  God  says  so. 

The  Christian  knows  his  sins  are  all  forgiven  for 
another  reason:  that  is,  because  the  Holy  Spirit 
bears  witness  in  his  own  heart  to  the  fact.  One  day 
when  the  Apostle  Peter  was  preaching  to  Cornelius, 
the  Roman  officer,  and  to  his  household,  he  said, 
“To  him  bear  all  the  prophets  witness  that  through 
his  name  everyone  that  believeth  on  him  shall  receive 
remission  of  sins”  (Acts  10:43),  and  everyone  in 
his  audience  believed  it.  The  Spirit  of  God  de¬ 
scended  right  then  and  there  and  filled  their  hearts 
with  the  knowledge  of  sins  forgiven,  and  they 
“  began  to  magnify  God  ”  with  exultant  hearts  and 
exultant  voices.  I  tell  you  that  was  a  joyful 
meeting. 

A  king,  a  great  king,  once  wrote  one  of  the  great¬ 
est  songs  that  was  ever  written.  That  song  has 
lasted  through  the  ages.  It  has  been  sung  and  is 
still  being  sung  by  thousands.  It  has  been  sung  by 
millions,  and  though  it  was  written  many  centuries 
ago,  it  is  just  as  sweet  to-day  as  the  day  the  king 
wrote  it.  The  man  who  wrote  this  song  was  a  great 
king,  the  greatest  king  of  his  day,  he  was  also  one 
of  the  greatest  generals  of  his  day,  one  of  the  great¬ 
est  generals  of  any  day.  He  had  great  armies,  the 
all-conquering  armies  of  the  day.  He  had  a  mag¬ 
nificent  palace.  I  do  not  suppose  that  any  other 
earthly  king  was  ever  so  beloved  as  he  was.  His 
song  was  about  joy  and  about  happiness.  He  does 


.90 


HOW  TO  BE  SAVED 


not  say  in  that  song,  “  How  happy  is  the  man  who 
is  a  great  'king/’  or,  “  How  happy  is  the  man  who 
is  a  great  general.”  What  does  he  say  ?  “  Oh,  the 
happinesses  of  the  man  whose  transgression  is  for¬ 
given,  whose  sin  is  covered  ”  (Ps.  32:1,  translated 
literally  from  the  Hebrew).  There  is  no  happiness 
like  the  joy  of  knowing  your  sins  are  all  forgiven. 
Oh,  what  a  joy  thrills  the  heart  when  a  man  knows 
that  his  sins  are  fully,  freely  and  forever  forgiven. 
That  is  one  reason  why  the  one  who  believes  on 
Jesus  Christ  is  unspeakably  happy,  and  you  can  have 
that  unspeakable  happiness  to-day.  I  do  not  care 
how  black  your  life  may  have  been  in  the  past;  I 
do  not  care  how  far  you  may  have  wandered  from 
God ;  I  do  not  care  how  old  you  may  have  grown 
in  sin ;  if  you  take  Jesus  Christ  to-day  for  your 
Saviour  and  your  Lord,  and  believe  on  Him,  your 
every  sin  will  be  blotted  out,  and  it  will  be  your 
privilege  to  know  it. 

2.  In  the  second  place,  Those  who  believe  on 
Jesus  Christ  rejoice  with  “joy  unspeakable  and  full 
of  glory  ,”  because  they  are  free  from  the  most  grind¬ 
ing  and  crushing  of  all  forms  of  slavery,  the  slavery 
of  sin.  There  is  many  a  slave  in  this  audience  to¬ 
night.  Some  of  you  are  slaves  of  strong  drink. 
Some  of  you  men  and  some  of  you  women  are  slaves 
of  drink.  You  know  you  are  slaves  of  drink.  Some 
of  you  are  slaves  of  drugs.  Some  of  you  are  slaves 
of  an  ungovernable  temper.  Some  of  you  are  slaves 
of  impurity  of  act  or  impurity  of  thought.  Some  of 
you  are  slaves  of  other  sins.  The  grossest,  vilest, 
most  degrading  slavery  in  the  universe  is  the  slavery 
of  sin.  Yes,  many  of  you  here  to-night  are  slaves. 


HOW  TO  BE  HAPPY 


91 


But  the  Lord  Jesus  says  in  Jno.  8:31,  32,  “If  ye 
continue  in  my  word,  then  are  ye  truly  my  disciples ; 
and  ye  shall  know  the  truth,  and  the  truth  shall  make 
you  free.”  He  says  again  in  the  thirty-sixth  verse, 
“  If  therefore  the  Son  shall  make  you  free,  ye  shall 
be  free  indeed.”  There  is  not  a  slave  in  this  build¬ 
ing  to-night  who  cannot  have  his  fetters  snapped  in 
a  moment,  yes,  in  a  moment,  by  the  mighty  Son  of 
God,  if  he  will  only  believe  on  Him  and  trust  Him 
to  do  it.  How  many  a  man  and  how  many  a  woman 
I  have  known,  who  were  once  slaves  of  sin  in  its 
most  degrading  and  hopeless  forms,  who  are  now 
free. 

One  of  the  dearest  and  most  honoured  and  most 
useful  friends  I  ever  had  was  Sam  Hadley  of  New 
York  City.  Sam  Hadley  was  once  hopelessly  en¬ 
slaved  by  sin.  Strong  drink  had  utterly  mastered 
him  and  undermined  his  character.  He  had  com¬ 
mitted  one  hundred  and  thirty-eight  forgeries,  and 
was  being  sought  for  by  the  police.  One  night  after 
having  spent  a  horrible  night  the  night  before, 
locked  up  in  a  New  York  jail  with  delirium  tremens, 
in  a  mission  meeting  a  few  blocks  away  from  the 
jail  he  cried  to  Jesus  to  save  him,  and  Jesus  saved 
him  right  then  and  there;  and  I  have  often  heard 
him  say  that  never  from  that  night  had  he  ever  had 
the  slightest  desire  for  that  which  had  enslaved  him 
more  than  anything  else,  intoxicating  drink.  My, 
what  a  happy  man  he  became!  All  who  knew  him 
testified  that  he  had  “  joy  unspeakable  and  full  of 
glory.”  I  wish  you  could  have  looked  in  Sam 
Hadley’s  face  and  seen  the  joy  that  there  was  in 
that  redeemed  and  radiant  countenance.  But  we  do 


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not  need  to  call  Sam  Hadley  back  from  Heaven  to 
testify,  for  there  are  hundreds  of  people  right  here 
in  this  building  to-night  who  were  once  complete 
slaves,  who  are  now  God’s  free  men  and  free  women, 
and  who  could  testify  to  the  fact.  That  is  one  rea¬ 
son  why  we  are  unspeakably  happy,  because  we  are 
free.  How  the  Southern  negroes  rejoiced  when 
they  came  to  understand  they  were  emancipated. 
They  shouted  and  sang,  “  Glory !  Glory !  Halle¬ 
lujah!”  Why?  Because  they  were  once  slaves,  but 
now  were  free.  No  wonder  then  that  we  rejoice 
with  “joy  unspeakable  and  full  of  glory”  because 
we  know  that  we  are  free,  and  free  forever. 

3.  In  the  third  place,  Those  who  believe  on  Jesus 
Christ  rejoice  with  “joy  unspeakable  and  full  of 
glory  ”  because  they  are  delivered  from  all  fear. 
There  is  nothing  that  more  darkens  the  human  heart 
and  robs  it  of  all  joy  and  fills  it  with  gloom  than 
fear  in  some  of  its  myriad  forms.  Those  who  truly 
believe  on  Jesus  Christ  are  saved  from  all  fear. 
They  are  delivered  from  all  fear  of  misfortune ;  they 
are  delivered  from  all  fear  of  man ;  they  are  deliv¬ 
ered  from  all  fear  of  death ;  they  are  delivered  from 
all  fear  of  eternity.  Do  you  know,  friends,  that  to 
a  true  believer  in  Jesus  Christ  “Eternity”  is  one  of 
the  sweetest  words  in  the  English  language?  Oh, 
how  it  makes  our  hearts  swell,  that  word,  “  Eter¬ 
nity.”  But  “  Eternity  ”  is  not  a  sweet  word  to  the 
unsaved.  Write  these  words,  “Where  will  you 
spend  eternity  ?  ”  on  a  card  and  hand  it  to  a  man 
who  is  not  a  Christian,  and  they  will  make  him  mad ; 
write  these  same  words,  “  Where  will  you  spend 
eternity  ?  ”  on  a  card  and  hand  it  to  a  Christian, 


HOW  TO  BE  HAPPY 


93 


and  they  will  make  him  glad.  Why  is  it?  Simply 
because  a  true  believer  on  Jesus  Christ  is  not  afraid 
of  but  delights  in  thoughts  of  eternity.  Why,  to  the 
one  who  believes  on  Jesus  Christ  eternity  is  glory. 

4.  In  the  fourth  place,  The  one  who  believes  on 
Jesus  Christ  rejoices  with  “joy  unspeakable  and  full 
of  glory  ”  because  he  knozvs  he  will  live  forever.  Is 
not  that  something  to  rejoice  over?  Is  it  not  won¬ 
derful?  We  read  in  I  Jno.  2:17,  “The  world 
passeth  away,  and  the  lust  thereof :  but  he  that  doeth 
the  will  of  God  abideth  forever.”  We  all  know 
that  it  is  true  that  “  the  world  passeth  away.”  We 
certainly  ought  to  know  it  by  this  time ;  but  it  is 
equally  true  that,  “  He  that  doeth  the  will  of  God 
abideth  forever.”  Sometimes  as  we  ride  along  our 
beautiful  roads  we  see  the  stately  mansions  of  our 
multi-millionaires,  and  the  thought  will  come  to  one 
sometimes,  “  It  must  be  very  pleasant  to  live  there.” 
Well,  I  suppose  it  must  be,  but  think  a  moment. 
How  long  will  these  people  live  there?  The  father 
of  the  household  may  perhaps  live  there  ten  years, 
possibly  twenty  years.  Then  where  does  he  live? 
Some  of  the  children  may  live  there  twenty,  thirty, 
possibly  forty  years,  then  what?  The  grave.  I  tell 
you  it  is  not  worth  much  after  all.  But  the  Chris¬ 
tian  looks  on,  and  on,  and  on,  to  a  life  that  has  no 
end,  to  a  life  that  is  eternal.  Glory ! 

5.  In  the  fifth  place,  Those  who  truly  believe  on 
Jesus  Christ  “  rejoice  greatly  with  joy  unspeakable 
and  full  of  glory  ”  because  they  know  they  are  chil¬ 
dren  of  God .  It  is  a  great  thing  to  know  that  you 
are  a  child  of  God.  How  does  the  Christian  know  it? 
He  knows  it  because  God  says  so  in  Jno.  1 : 12,  “  As 


94 


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many  as  received  him,  to  them  gave  he  the  right  to 
become  children  of  God,  even  to  them  that  believe 
on  his  name.”  A  child  of  God!  think  of  it!  Some¬ 
times  as  I  have  travelled  around  the  world  someone 
has  pointed  out  to  me  some  man,  and  said,  “  That 
man  is  the  son  of  such  and  such  a  man,  naming  some 
king.  Would  you  not  like  to  be  the  son  of  a  great 
king?  Just  look  at  that  young  man.  He  is  the  son 
of  a  king.”  In  one  country  many  years  ago,  when 
the  king  business  was  better  than  it  is  to-day,  I  was 
taken  up  and  introduced  to  the  son  of  one  of  the 
reigning  monarchs  of  Europe,  and  the  man  who  in¬ 
troduced  me  whispered  to  me,  "  He  is  the  son  of  so 
and  so”  (naming  the  king).  Well,  what  of  it?  He 
was  a  fine  man  in  himself,  but  what  if  he  was  the 
son  of  a  king?  I  am  a  son  of  God,  and  that  is  far 
greater,  and  every  believer  in  Jesus  Christ  in  this 
building  to-night  is  a  child  of  God,  the  child  of  “  the 
King  of  kings.”  And  any  one  of  you  here  to-night, 
if  you  are  not  already  a  child  of  God,  can  become 
one  in  an  instant,  by  receiving  the  Lord  Jesus. 

6.  In  the  sixth  place,  and  very  closely  connected 
with  the  last,  True  believers  in  Jesus  Christ  rejoice 
with  “joy  unspeakable  and  full  of  glory ”  because 
they  are  heirs  of  God,  and  joint-heirs  with  Jesus 
Christ.  Is  that  not  wonderful?  We  are  so  familiar 
with  it  we  do  not  stop  to  take  in  the  meaning  of  it. 
One  of  England's  dukes  once  lay  dying.  He  called 
his  brother  to  him,  the  one  who  would  succeed  to 
the  title,  and  said,  “  Brother,  .in  a  few  hours  now 
you  will  be  a  duke  and — and  I  will  be  a  king.”  He 
was  already  a  child  of  the  King  and  in  a  few  hours 
he  himself  would  be  a  king.  I,  too,  will  be  a  king 


HOW  TO  BE  HAPPY 


95 


in  a  few  days.  You  may  say,  “  It  may  be  many 
years.”  Well,  many  years  are  only  a  few  days  on 
the  scale  of  eternity.  And,  if  you  really  are  a  be¬ 
liever  in  Christ  Jesus,  if  you  have  a  real  living  faith 
in  Him,  you,  too,  will  be  a  king  in  a  few  days. 
There  was  never  a  royal  pageant  sweeping  through 
the  streets  of  London  at  any  coronation  comparable 
in  glory  to  the  glory  that  awaits  you  and  me  just 
over  yonder.  “  When  Christ,  who  is  our  life,  shall 
be  manifested,  then  shall  we  also  with  him  be  mani¬ 
fested  in  glory ”  (Col.  3:3).  We  may  be  poor 
to-day.  That  does  not  matter.  This  life  will  be 
over  in  a  moment  and  the  other  life  begun,  and  that 
life  is  eternal. 

7.  In  the  seventh  place,  Those  who  truly  believe 
on  Jesus  Christ,  those  who  throw  their  hearts  wide 
open  to  Him,  those  who  surrender  absolutely  to  Him, 
rejoice  with  “  joy  unspeakable  and  full  of  glory  ”  be¬ 
cause  God  gives  them  the  Holy  Spirit,  and  there  is 
no  other  joy  in  the  present  life  like  the  joy  of  the 
Holy  Spirit.  One  Monday  morning,  in  Chicago,  my 
front  door-bell  rang.  I  kept  Monday  in  those  days 
for  my  rest  day,  and  had  a  notice  above  the  door 
bell,  “  Mr.  Torrey  does  not  see  anyone  on  Monday.” 
The  maid  went  to  the  door,  and  there  stood  a  poor 
woman.  The  maid  said,  “  Mr.  Torrey  does  not  see 
anyone  on  Monday.  Did  you  not  see  the  notice 
over  the  door-bell  ?  ”  She  said,  “  I  knew  that,  but 
I  have  got  to  see  him  and  you  just  go  and  tell  him 
a  member  of  his  church  must  see  him.”  So  the 
maid  brought  her  into  the  reception  room.  She  was 
a  washerwoman.  The  maid  showed  the  washer¬ 
woman  a  seat  and  came  upstairs  and  said  to  me, 


96 


HOW  TO  BE  SAVED 


“  There  is  a  woman  downstairs  who  is  a  member  of 
your  church  and  says  she  has  got  to  see  you.”  So 
down  I  walked.  As  I  entered  the  room  she  arose 
and  hurried  toward  me,  and  said,  “  Mr.  Torrey,  I 
knew  you  did  not  see  anybody  on  Monday,  but  I 
had  to  see  you.  Last  night  after  I  went  to  bed  I 
was  filled  with  the  Holy  Spirit  right  there  in  my 
bed,  and  I  was  so  happy  I  could  not  sleep  all  night, 
and  this  morning  I  had  to  come  and  tell  somebody. 
I  could  not  afford  to  give  up  a  day’s  work  to  come 
around  and  tell  you  about  it,  but  I  knew  I  must  tell 
somebody  and  I  did  not  know  anybody  I  would  so 
like  to  tell  as  you.  I  know  you  won’t  be  angry.” 
Indeed  I  was  not  angry.  I  was  glad  she  came,  and 
rejoiced  with  her,  that  old  washerwoman  filled  with 
the  Holy  Spirit  and  so  full  of  joy  that,  poor  as  she 
was,  she  had  to  give  up  a  day’s  work  to  go  and  tell 
somebody  she  loved  all  about  it. 

Before  I  came  to  believe  on  the  Lord  Jesus  Christ 
I  was  one  of  the  bluest  men  that  ever  lived.  I 
would  sit  down  by  the  hour  and  brood.  I  have 
never  known  what  the  blues  mean  since  the  day  I 
really  became  a  Christian,  absolutely  surrendered  to 
God.  I  have  had  troubles.  I  have  had  losses. 
There  have  been  times  in  my  life  when  I  have  lost 
pretty  much  everything  the  world  holds  dear.  I 
know  what  it  is  to  have  a  wife  and  four  children, 
and  to  lose  everything  of  a  financial  kind  I  had  in 
the  world,  and  not  know  from  meal  to  meal  where 
the  next  meal  was  coming  from.  I  was  absolutely 
without  resources,  living  from  hand  to  mouth, — from 
God’s  hand  to  my  mouth.  I  have  known  what  it  is 
to  be  with  a  wife  and  child  in  a  foreign  country 


HOW  TO  BE  HAPPY 


97 


where  they  spoke  a  strange  language,  and  for  some 
reason  or  other  supplies  did  not  come,  and  I  did  not 
know  anyone  in  the  city  well  enough  to  turn  to  them 
for  help;  but  I  did  not  worry.  I  knew  it  was  all 
in  God’s  hands,  that  it  would  all  come  out  right 
somehow,  and  of  course  it  did  come  out  right.  The 
first  time  I  ever  visited  London,  thirty-nine  years 
ago  last  September,  I  was  planning  to  spend  two 
weeks  in  England,  and  then  start  for  America.  I 
expected  to  find  money  waiting  for  me  when  I 
reached  London,  and  I  reached  London  with  a  wife 
and  child,  and  not  a  letter,  and  no  money.  But  I 
said,  “  the  letter  and  the  money  will  come  to-morrow 
or  the  next  day.”  My  wife  went  and  made  some 
purchases,  taking  it  for  granted  we  would  have 
money  when  the  purchases  came  home ;  but  the 
money  did  not  come.  Day  after  day  passed,  and  the 
dresses  came  home  and  it  was  about  time  for  the 
landlady  to  come  with  her  board  bill.  It  came  to  be 
the  very  last  day  before  our  boat  started,  and  not 
a  penny  in  sight.  I  went  down  to  the  bank.  I  did 
not  know  a  soul  in  London.  There  were  three  or 
four  million  people  there  then ;  a  stranger  amid  three 
or  four  millions  of  people,  money  absolutely  gone, 
three  thousand  miles  from  friends.  I  did  not  worry. 
I  knew  the  money  would  come.  I  did  not  know  how 
it  would  come,  for  the  source  I  expected  to  receive 
it  from  seemed  utterly  cut  off ;  but  yet  I  was  happy. 
Why?  Because  I  was  a  child  of  God;  I  had  the 
promises  of  the  Bible;  I  knew  they  were  absolutely 
sure.  I  never  lost  an  hour’s  sleep.  I  never  worried. 
I  just  trusted.  It  seemed  as  though  I  would  have 
to  be  fed  somewhat  as  Elijah  was,  but  I  knew  I 


98 


HOW  TO  BE  SAVED 


would  be  fed.  I  knew  my  wife  and  child  would  be 
provided  for.  The  money  came  and  I  sailed  on  the 
steamer  I  expected  to  sail  by,  with  every  penny  due 
paid,  and  money  in  my  pocket.  Friends,  a  Christian 
is  happy  at  all  times  and  under  all  circumstances. 
We  rejoice  with  “joy  unspeakable  and  full  of 
glory  ”  every  one  of  the  twenty-four  hours  of  the 
day  that  we  are  awake,  and  sometimes  in  our  sleep. 
You,  too,  can  have  that  joy. 

II.  How  to  Get  This  Joy  That  is  Unspeakable 

and  Full  of  Glory 

Now  arises  the  question,  “  What  must  anyone 
here  to-night  who  has  not  this  “joy  unspeakable  and 
full  of  glory  ”  do  to  get  it?  I  have  really  answered 
that  question  several  times  in  what  I  have  already 
said,  but  to  be  sure  that  we  all  really  understand  it, 
let  me  answer  it  again,  or  rather  let  my  text  answer 
it,  “  On  whom ,  though  now  ye  see  him  not,  yet 
believing,  ye  rejoice  greatly  with  joy  unspeakable  and 
full  of  glory.”  The  text  tells  us  that  the  way  to 
obtain  this  “  joy  unspeakable  and  full  of  glory,”  the 
way  to  be  unspeakably  happy  at  all  times  and  under 
all  circumstances,  is  just  by  believing  on  the  unseen 
Christ  Jesus.  What  does  it  mean  to  believe  on 
Jesus  Christ?  There  is  no  mystery  at  all  about  that. 
It  simply  means  to  put  confidence  in  Jesus  Christ  as 
what  He  claims  to  be  and  what  He  offers  Himself 
to  be  to  us,  to  put  confidence  in  Him  as  the  One 
who  died  in  our  place,  the  One  who  bore  our  sins 
in  His  own  body  on  the  cross,  and  to  trust  God  to 
forgive  us  all  our  sins  because  Jesus  Christ  died  in 
our  place ;  to  put  confidence  in  Him  as  the  One  who 


HOW  TO  BE  HAPPY 


99 


was  raised  from  the  dead  and  who  now  has  “  all 
power  in  heaven  and  on  earth,”  and  therefore  is  able 
to  keep  us  day  by  day,  and  give  us  victory  over  sin, 
and  to  trust  this  risen  Christ  to  give  us  victory  over 
sin  day  by  day ;  and  to  put  confidence  in  Him  as  our 
absolute  Lord  and  Master,  and  therefore  to  surren¬ 
der  our  thoughts  and  wills  and  lives  entirely  to  His 
control,  believing  everything  He  says,  even  though 
every  scholar  on  earth  denies  it,  obeying  everything 
He  commands,  whatever  it  may  cost ;  and  to  put 
confidence  in  Him  as  our  Divine  Lord,  and  confess 
Him  as  Lord  before  the  world,  and  worship  and 
adore  Him.  It  is  wonderful  the  joy  that  comes  to 
the  one  who  thus  believes  on  Jesus  Christ.  But 
one  must  really  believe  on  Jesus  Christ  to  have 
this  joy. 

Merely  being  a  member  of  a  church  is  not  enough. 
Merely  being  baptized  is  not  enough.  Merely  being 
confirmed  is  not  enough.  Merely  reading  your  Bible 
is  not  enough.  Merely  reading  the  Prayer  Book  is 
not  enough.  Merely  going  to  church  is  not  enough. 
Merely  going  to  the  Lord’s  table  and  partaking  of 
the  Lord’s  Supper  is  not  enough.  But  if  you  are  a 
real  believer  on  Jesus  Christ,  if  you  have  put  all 
your  trust  in  the  Lord  Jesus  as  your  atoning  Saviour 
and  your  risen  Saviour,  and  your  risen  Lord  and 
Master,  and  surrendered  your  thoughts  and  life  to 
Him  utterly  as  your  Lord  and  Master,  and  are  con¬ 
fessing  Him  as  such  before  the  world,  if  you  have 
thrown  your  heart’s  door  wide  open  for  the  Lord 
Jesus  to  come  in,  and  live,  and  rule,  and  reign  there, 
you  will  have  “  joy  unspeakable  and  full  of  glory  ” 
at  all  times  and  under  all  circumstances. 


100 


HOW  TO  BE  SAVED 


All  anyone  has  to  do  then,  to  be  unspeakably 
happy  at  all  times  and  under  all  circumstances,  is  to 
believe  on  Jesus  Christ.  It  does  not  make  any  dif¬ 
ference  what  his  circumstances  may  be:  he  may  be 
rich  or  he  may  be  poor;  he  may  be  highly  educated, 
or  he  may  be  ignorant;  he  may  be  in  good  health  or 
he  may  be  a  hopeless  invalid ;  he  may  have  been  a 
moral,  clean,  upright  man,  or  he  may  have  been  the 
vilest  of  sinners,  it  matters  not.  Everyone  who  be¬ 
lieves  on  the  unseen  but  living  Christ  will  find  “  joy 
unspeakable  and  full  of  glory.”  I  can  bring  scores, 
hundreds,  thousands  of  witnesses  to  prove  that. 
You  cannot  bring  a  single  witness  on  the  other  side. 
Col.  Robert  Ingersoll  delighted  to  say,  “  It  does  not 
make  one  happy  to  be  a  Christian.”  How  did  he 
know?  He  never  tried  it.  You  can  search  the 
earth  through  and  you  cannot  find  me  one  single  man 
or  woman  who  was  ever  an  out  and  out  believer  in 
Jesus  Christ,  a  real  whole-hearted  believer  in  Jesus 
Christ,  one  who  had  surrendered  all  to  Jesus  Christ; 
I  say  you  cannot  find  me  even  one  such  man  or 
woman  who  will  deny  that  Jesus  Christ  gives  “joy 
unspeakable  and  full  of  glory  ”  to  those  who  thus 
believe  on  Him.  Here,  then,  is  the  way  the  case 
stands :  Every  single  competent  witness,  that  is, 
every  witness  who  has  ever  tried  it,  testifies  that 
believing  on  Jesus  Christ  does  bring  “  joy  unspeak¬ 
able  and  full  of  glory,”  and  these  witnesses  number 
thousands,  tens  of  thousands  and  hundreds  of  thou¬ 
sands,  people  from  every  rank  of  society  and  culture, 
and  not  one  witness  on  the  other  side.  Is  it  demon¬ 
strated  or  not?  It  certainly  is. 

I  take  it  that  I  am  speaking  to-night  to  reasonable 


HOW  TO  BE  HAPPY 


101 


% 


men  and  women.  You  desire  “  joy  unspeakable  and 
full  of  glory.”  I  have  told  you  how  to  get  it.  There 
can  be  no  doubt  about  it.  The  evidence  is  over¬ 
whelmingly  convincing.  There  is  then  but  one  ra¬ 
tional  thing  for  you  to  do,  believe  on  Jesus  Christ 
to-night.  Will  you  do  it? 

There  came  to  me  once,  a  man  who  was  utterly 
miserable.  He  was  a  rarely  gifted  man,  a  brilliant 
scholar,  but  utterly  miserable.  If  ever  I  saw  a  man 
in  hell  he  was  the  man.  He  had  attempted  suicide 
at  least  four  times.  He  had  been  so  near  succeed¬ 
ing  in  his  attempts  that  on  two  occasions  it  had  been 
necessary  to  pump  out  of  him  the  poison  he  had 
taken  and  thus  bring  him  back  to  life.  I  urged  him 
to  believe  on  Jesus  Christ.  He  replied,  “  I  cannot, 
I  have  sinned  away  the  Day  of  Grace.”  Day  after 
day  I  talked  with  the  man  and  I  never  had  but  one 
message,  and  that  was,  “  Come  to  Jesus  Christ.  Be¬ 
lieve  on  Jesus  Christ.”  At  last  one  day  the  man 
did  come  to  Jesus  Christ.  He  found  “  joy  unspeak¬ 
able  and  full  of  glory.”  I  have  seen  that  man  some¬ 
times  when  his  face  was  radiant.  Out  of  hell  into 
heaven  by  just  believing  on  Jesus  Christ.  Will  you 
take  that  same  step  to-night? 


VII 


IS  THERE  ANY  MAN  OR  WOMAN  IN  THIS 
CITY  WHOM  THE  LORD  JESUS  CAN¬ 
NOT  SAVE  AND  FILL  WITH 
RADIANT  JOY? 


<( 


He  is  able.” — Hebrews  7:25. 


M 


’Y  subject  is:  Is  there  a  man  or  woman  in 
this  city  whom  the  Lord  Jesus  cannot  save 
and  fill  with  radiant  joy?  There  is  not. 
But  that  is  merely  my  assertion,  and  I  do  not  ask 
anybody  to  take  anything  on  my  mere  say-so.  I 
am  going  to  prove  conclusively  to  every  one  of  you 
to-night  the  truth  of  my  assertion.  I  am  going  to 
prove  so  conclusively  that  there  is  not  a  man  or 
woman  in  this  city  whom  Jesus  Christ  cannot  save 
and  fill  with  radiant  joy,  that  if  any  of  you  go  out 
of  this  auditorium  to-night  unsaved  or  with  a  heavy 
heart  it  will  be  your  own  fault.  I  am  not  going  to 
prove  it  by  merely  quoting  from  the  Bible.  That 
would  be  enough ;  for  the  proof  that  the  Bible  is 
God’s  sure  Word,  is  overwhelming,  to  anybody  who 
really  wishes  to  know  the  truth.  But  I  am  going 
to  prove  it  by  what  mine  own  eyes  have  seen.  By 
present-day  facts  that  are  unquestionably  and  dem¬ 
onstrably  facts.  But  before  I  give  you  my  text 
and  my  argument  I  wish  to  tell  you  about  three  peo¬ 
ple  with  whom  I  have  dealt  personally.  The  first 
was  a  woman,  apparently  a  most  desperate  and  hope¬ 
less  case.  She  had  killed  a  man,  and  in  addition  to 

102 


CANNOT  EACH  BE  SAVED? 


103 


all  that  was  a  professional  murderess  of  infants. 
But  that  was  not  all.  She  had  come  one  night  to 
hear  me  preach  and  was  brought  under  deep  con¬ 
viction  of  sin,  and  had  called  at  my  office  the  next 
day  and  told  me  her  story  and  I  had  dealt  with  her. 
But  the  devil  was  not  willing  to  let  her  go  so  easily, 
and  she  resisted  her  convictions.  She  was  not  will¬ 
ing  to  yield  to  Jesus  Christ.  One  afternoon  she 
came  to  me  at  the  close  of  my  Bible  class,  with  a 
hard  look  on  her  face,  and  with  one  of  the  most  ter¬ 
rible  mocking  laughs  I  ever  heard  she  said,  “  Mr. 
Torrey,  you  cannot  trouble  me  any  more  with  your 
preaching  or  your  teaching.  I  admit  that  you  did 
trouble  me.  I  admit  that  my  conscience  was  deeply 
stirred,  but  I  have  prayed  to  the  devil  to  take  away 
my  convictions  and  he  has  done  it.”  “  Ha !  Ha !  ” 
she  said  with  a  hard,  steely  look  in  her  eyes  and  an 
evil  look  upon  her  face,  “  you  cannot  trouble  me  any 
more.  I  have  prayed  to  the  devil  and  he  has  taken 
away  all  my  convictions.”  As  I  recall  it,  all  that  I 
said  in  reply  was,  “  Well,  you  are  the  greatest  fool 
I  have  ever  known.”  And  she  went  away.  But  I 
prayed  for  her. 

The  second  person  was  a  man,  a  drunken  shoe¬ 
maker.  He  had  tried  to  kill  his  wife  when  he  was 
drunk  and  his  wife  had  fled  with  their  child  and 
was  in  hiding.  My  private  secretary  had  put  her 
in  a  place  of  safety.  The  man  came  to  me  and  said, 
“Mr.  Torrey,  do  you  know  where  my  wife  is?  ”  I 
replied,  “  I  do.”  He  said,  “  Tell  me  where  she  is.” 
I  said,  “  I  will  not.  You  are  not  fit  to  have  a  wife. 
You  tried  to  kill  your  wife  last  Saturday  night.  I 
will  not  tell  you  where  she  is.”  He  said,  “If  you 


104 


HOW  TO  BE  SAVED 


do  not  tell  me  where  she  is  I  will  kill  myself.” 
“No,”  I  said,  “you  will  not  kill  yourself.  You  do 
not  dare,  you  are  a  coward.  Moreover,  if  you  do 
kill  yourself  you  will  go  to  hell,”  and  with  that  I  dis¬ 
missed  him.  But  he  kept  coming  to  see  me.  He 
got  under  what  he  called  “deep  conviction  of  sin  ” 
and  would  come  around  for  me  to  pray  with  him, 
and  I  would  pray  with  him.  He  would  cry  to  God 
to  save  him  from  the  drink.  The  tears  would  roll 
down  his  cheeks,  and  then  he  would  ask  me  for  a 
nickel  or  a  dime  to  go  down  to  Pullman  to  get  a 
job,  and  I  knew  the  money  all  went  for  whiskey. 
He  kept  this  up  for  several  years.  He  would  not 
only  strike  me  for  money  but  struck  the  students 
also.  I  suppose  he  got  hundreds  of  dollars  out  of 
the  students.  He  would  cry  and  whine  and  snivel 
and  the  tears  would  roll  down  his  cheeks.  He  would 
profess  repentance,  then  strike  somebody  for  money 
and  go  off  and  get  drunk ;  and  he  kept  that  game  up 
for  years. 

The  third  person  was  a  man,  a  very  gifted  man, 
said  to  be  the  most  brilliant  Greek  scholar  and  most 
brilliant  scholar  in  some  other  lines  that  one  of  our 
well-known  universities  had  turned  out  for  many 
years.  But  the  man  had  gone  against  his  conscience 
in  many  things  until  he  was  in  a  morbid  state  of 
mind  bordering  on  insanity.  He  had  attempted  sui¬ 
cide  at  least  five  times.  Morphine  or  other  drugs  had 
been  pumped  out  of  him  two  or  three  times.  He  was 
sent  to  me  from  Ohio  to  Chicago  under  guard  lest  he 
kill  himself  on  the  way.  The  man  who  brought  him 
led  him  in  to  me  and  introduced  him,  then  said, 
“May  I  go  now?”  I  said,  “Yes,  leave  him  with 


CANNOT  EACH  BE  SAVED? 


105 


me.”  The  man  sank  down  and  glared  at  me  and 
said,  “  I  am  possessed  of  the  devil.”  I  said,  “  I 
think  you  are.  But  Jesus  Christ  came  to  cast  out 
demons.”  “  No,”  he  said,  “that  is  not  what  I  mean. 
I  mean  the  devil  has  entered  into  me  as  he  did  into 
Judas  Iscariot.”  I  said,  “  That  may  be  true,  but 
Jesus  Christ  is  stronger  than  the  devil.”  He  said, 
“  I  have  committed  the  unpardonable  sin.”  I  said, 
“Jesus  Christ  says,  ‘Him  that  cometh  to  me  I  will 
in  no  wise  cast  out/  ”  He  said,  “  I  have  no  desire 
to  come  to  Him.”  I  said,  “  He  does  not  say  that 
if  anyone  has  a  desire  to  come  to  Him,  He  will  in 
no  wise  cast  him  out,  He  says,  ‘  Him  that  cometh 
to  me  I  will  in  no  wise  cast  out/  ”  The  conversa¬ 
tion  went  on  in  that  way  for  some  time,  and  then  I 
sent  him  to  a  room.  For  many  long  months  scenes 
like  this  were  repeated.  At  times  at  night,  after  the 
meetings,  I  would  take  him  to  our  home  three  miles 
away,  on  the  front  end  of  the  car  through  a  wild 
blizzard,  hoping  to  cool  him  down.  At  other  times 
in  the  middle  of  the  night  I  would  hear  somebody 
creeping  up  the  stairs  toward  my  door  on  the  third 
floor,  and  I  knew  it  was  this  man. 

These  three  persons  seemed  to  me  at  the  time  the 
three  most  hopeless  cases  I  had  ever  met,  and  so 
one  day  I  said  to  God,  “  Oh,  God,  if  Thou  wilt  give 
me  these  three  persons,  if  Thou  wilt  let  me  see  these 
three  persons  clearly  saved,  I  will  never  despair  of 
another  person  as  long  as  I  live.”  And  God  gave 
me  to  see  every  one  of  these  three  persons  saved 
and  filled  with  radiant  joy.  Years  have  passed, 
more  than  twenty-five  years,  and  they  have  all  stood 
fast.  Almost  every  time  I  pass  through  Chicago,  if 


,106 


HOW  TO  BE  SAVED 


I  speak  anywhere  in  the  city,  this  woman  who  had 
prayed  to  the  devil,  and  who  had  stained  her  hands 
with  human  blood  and  had  been  guilty  of  infant 
murder,  hears  of  it  and  is  in  my  audience,  and  comes 
to  me  at  the  close  with  happy,  radiant  face  and  tells 
me  how  God  is  using  her  to  lead  others  to  Christ. 
There  are  people  in  this  audience  to-night  who  I 
think  know  her  but  they  do  not  know  her  history. 
I  have  never  told  it  to  a  human  being  in  a  way  that 
they  could  tell  who  it  was.  The  second  person,  the 
man  who  tried  to  kill  his  wife,  and  for  years  worked 
Christian  workers  by  prayer  and  weeping  and  got 
money  out  of  them  to  squander  in  drink ;  to-day  that 
man  is  a  very  active  and  happy  member  of  the 
Moody  church,  with  a  happy  wife  and  a  son  now 
grown  to  manhood.  Many  know  his  history  and  the 
details  of  it.  The  whole  family  often  come  up  to 
me  when  I  go  to  Chicago,  and  all  of  them  wreathed 
with  smiles.  When  I  held  a  Union  Meeting  of  the 
churches  of  Chicago  years  afterward  he  was  one  of 
my  most  faithful  ushers.  The  third  person  is  known 
by  many  here  who  have  heard  him  teach  the  Word 
of  God  with  mighty  power  in  Chicago,  and  Toronto, 
and  St.  Louis,  and  Detroit,  and  in  many  other  cities 
in  America  and  across  the  Pacific  in  China.  Do 
you  wonder  after  three  such  experiences  as  this,  and 
I  could  relate  many  more,  some  of  which  might  seem 
to  some  of  you  more  wonderful  than  any  of  these, 
that  I  never  despair  of  anyone,  and  have  an  unshak¬ 
able  confidence  that  there  is  not  a  man  or  woman  in 
Los  Angeles  or  anywhere  else  whom  the  Lord  Jesus 
Christ,  the  Omnipotent  Son  of  God,  cannot  save  and 
fill  with  radiant  joy? 


CANNOT  EACH  BE  SAVED? 


107 


Now  for  my  text.  It  consists  of  but  three  words, 
three  short  words.  There  are  but  eight  letters  in 
the  whole  text.  You  will  find  these  three  short 
words  in  Heb.  7 : 25,  “  He  is  able.”  The  whole 
verse  is  a  great  verse  and  sums  up  in  a  wonderful 
way  what  the  mighty  Jesus,  the  risen  Son  of  God, 
is  able  to  do.  Let  me  quote  it,  “  Wherefore  he  is 
able  also  to  save  them  to  the  uttermost  that  come 
unto  God  by  (through)  him,  seeing  he  ever  liveth 
to  make  intercession  for  them.”  But  I  wish  to  con¬ 
centrate  your  attention  to-night  on  these  three  words, 
“He  is  abler 

I.  What  Jesus  is  Able  To  Do 

Let  us  look  first  at  what  the  Lord  Jesus  is  able 
to  do.  Let  us  look  at  some  of  the  tremendously  im¬ 
portant  specific  things  that  He  is  able  to  do.  The 
verse  from  which  my  text  is  taken  sums  up  what 
He  is  able  to  do  in  four  wonderful  words,  “save  to 
the  uttermost r  Not  merely  from  the  uttermost,  we 
shall  see  before  we  get  through  that  He  is  able  to 
do  that,  but  the  verse  teaches  far  more  than  that. 
It  says  that  “  He  is  able  to  save  to  the  uttermost 
The  Greek  words  so  translated  mean  “  unto  entire 
completeness,”  or  “  unto  entire  perfectness.”  But  I 
wish  to-night  to  call  your  attention  to  some  of  the 
wonderful  details  that  are  included  in  that  striking 
general  statement  “  unto  the  uttermost  ”  or  “  unto 
entire  perfectness.” 

1.  First  of  all,  The  Lord  Jesus  is  able  to  forgive 
sins.  That  was  His  claim  when  He  was  here  upon 
earth.  He  said  of  Himself,  “  The  Son  of  man  hath 


108 


HOW  TO  BE  SAVED 


power  on  earth  to  forgive  sins  ”  (Mark  2:  10).  He 
is  able  to  forgive  any  sin  and  all  sins.  He  Himself 
tells  us  that  there  is  but  one  unpardonable  sin,  the 
blasphemy  against  the  Holy  Ghost  (Matt.  12:31, 
32),  i.  e.,  the  deliberately  attributing  to  the  devil 
what  you  know  to  be  the  work  of  the  Holy  Spirit 
And  it  is  evident  from  our  Lord’s  words  about  it 
compared  with  other  words  He  spoke  that  the  only 
reason  that  this  sin  is  unpardonable  is  because  the 
people  who  commit  this  sin  are  so  hardened  and  de¬ 
termined  in  sin  that  they  will  not  repent,  and  have 
no  desire  to  repent.  So,  if  anyone  here  has  any  de¬ 
sire  to  repent  and  be  forgiven,  it  proves  conclusively 
that  you  have  not  committed  this  one  unpardonable 
sin.  Absolutely  every  other  sin  the  Lord  Jesus  can 
forgive  and  will  forgive,  if  the  sinner  meets  the  one 
condition  of  forgiveness,  simply  putting  his  trust  for 
forgiveness  in  the  Lord  Jesus. 

How  do  we  know  that  the  Lord  Jesus  is  able  to 
forgive  sins  ?  Because  He  said  He  had  “  authority 
on  earth  to  forgive  sins,”  and  proved  on  the  spot 
that  He  had  that  authority  which  He  claimed,  and 
furthermore  God  set  the  stamp  of  His  own  endorse¬ 
ment  on  this  wonderful  claim  of  Christ  Jesus,  and 
upon  all  of  His  claims,  by  raising  Him  from  the 
dead.  His  resurrection  from  the  dead  is  the  best 
proven  fact  of  history.  The  proof  of  it  is  abso¬ 
lutely  overwhelming.  But  that  is  not  all,  thousands 
upon  thousands  of  living  witnesses  to-day  bear  wit¬ 
ness  to  the  fact  that  they  know  that  the  Lord  Jesus 
has  forgiven  their  sins.  My  own  sins  were  very 
many  and  very  great,  and  I  know  that  the  Lord 
Jesus  has  forgiven  every  one  of  them. 


CANNOT  EACH  BE  SAVED? 


109 


Let  me  tell  you  of  one  instance,  though  not  more 
notable  than  many  of  which  I  have  had  personal 
knowledge.  Years  ago  there  was  in  New  York  City 
a  young  woman  of  about  twenty-five.  She  had  been 
sold  into  a  life  of  sin  by  her  own  mother  at  the  age 
of  eleven,  and  not  only  that,  though  a  white  girl,  she 
was  sold  to  a  negro.  She  lived  this  awful  life  in  the 
vilest  slums  of  New  York  until  she  was  about 
twenty-five  years  of  age.  A  friend  of  mine  saw  her 
one  night  stagger  up  from  an  underground  den  of 
infamy  in  the  Pell  Street  District  in  New  York. 
She  leaned  against  a  lamp  post,  and  in  her  misery 
groaned.  My  friend  stepped  up  to  her  and  told  her 
of  the  Lord  Jesus  Christ  and  His  power  to  save. 
He  sent  her  to  a  place  where  she  would  be  sheltered 
and  looked  after.  He  led  her  to  a  definite  accept¬ 
ance  of  Jesus  Christ.  Her  life  was  marvelously 
transformed,  her  every  sin  was  blotted  out.  From 
being  one  of  the  vilest  of  the  vile  in  New  York  she 
became  a  remarkably  beautiful  Christian  character. 
One  day  she  stood  on  the  public  platform  in  the 
Cooper  Institute  in  New  York,  and  with  the  tears 
running  down  her  cheeks,  and  the  cheeks  of  her 
audience,  plead  with  wonderful  power  with  three 
thousand  people  to  accept  Jesus  Christ.  Her  pre¬ 
vious  life  had  broken  her  health.  She  lived  only 
about  two  years  after  her  conversion,  but  they  were 
wonderful  years.  The  night  she  died  the  man  who 
had  led  her  to  Christ  called  to  see  her  in  the  home 
where  he  had  had  her  sheltered.  As  he  entered  the 
room  the  smile  of  Heaven  was  upon  her  face.  A 
large  picture  of  his  daughter,  who  had  died  at  four 
years  of  age,  hung  at  the  foot  of  the  dying  slum 


110 


HOW  TO  BE  SAVED 


girl’s  bed.  She  looked  at  her  benefactor  and  said, 
“  Uncle  Charlie,  I  shall  soon  see  Florence.”  Then  a 
brighter  light  came  into  her  face  and  she  said, 
“  Uncle  Charlie,  in  a  few  minutes  I  shall  see  Jesus.” 
And  she  departed  to  be  with  the  King.  Can  anyone 
question  then  that  Jesus  Christ  has  power  on  earth 
to-day  to  forgive  sins,  to  forgive  all  sins,  to  wash 
the  record  of  the  vilest  sinner  on  earth  as  white  as 
snow? 

2.  In  the  second  place,  The  Lord  Jesus  is  able 
to  save  from  sin's  power.  He  is  able  to  save  any 
man  from  sin’s  power,  no  matter  how  completely  he 
is  fettered  or  how  hopelessly  he  is  straining  in  his 
own  strength  to  throw  off  the  shackles  of  sin.  How 
do  we  know  that?  First  of  all  because  the  Lord 
Jesus  Himself  says  so.  He  says,  in  Jno.  8:34, 
“  Verily,  verily,  I  say  unto  you,  Everyone  that  com- 
mitteth  sin  is  the  hand-servant  (slave)  of  sin.”  Now 
we  all  know  that  is  true,  we  all  know  that  it  is  true 
with  all  of  us.  We  have  personal  experience  of  the 
fact.  But  two  verses  farther  down  our  Lord  says, 
“If  the  Son  therefore  shall  make  you  free,  ye  shall 
be  free  indeed”  (Jno.  8:36). 

But  our  Lord  Jesus  not  only  claimed  when  He 
was  here  on  earth  that  He  could  save  from  the 
power  of  sin  and  Satan  any  man  who  would  put  his 
trust  in  Him,  but  He  also  proved  it.  No  one  ever 
came  to  Him  for  deliverance  from  the  power  of  sin 
but  he  got  it.  And  Jesus  Christ  is  proving  to-day 
that  He  has  power  on  earth  to-day  to  deliver  any 
man  from  the  power  of  sin.  Miracles  of  deliverance 
from  sin’s  power  are  just  as  common  to-day  as  they 
were  when  Jesus  our  Lord  walked  upon  this  earth. 


CANNOT  EACH  BE  SAVED? 


Ill 


Indeed  they  are  more  common  than  they  were  then; 
for  then  He  was  in  His  humiliation,  now  He  is  in 
His  resurrection  glory  and  power  (Jno.  14:12). 

I  wanted  to  tell  you  of  some  instances  that  had 
come  under  my  personal  observation,  but  so  many 
came  surging  into  my  mind  I  had  difficulty  in  decid¬ 
ing  which  to  tell.  There  was  “  Billy  the  Boozer  ”  in 
Cardiff,  Wales,  and  “  Bob  ”  in  Glasgow,  Scotland, 
who  sent  to  the  platform  a  defiant  letter,  saying  that 
he  was  in  the  gallery,  and  that  Jesus  Christ  could 
not  save  him,  and  that  when  he  died  and  went  to 
hell  the  devil  would  resign  and  appoint  him  leader 
in  his  place.  Then  there  was  a  man  in  Liverpool, 
and  there  was  a  woman  in  Dublin,  who  in  some  re¬ 
spects  seemed  the  most  awful  woman  I  ever  met. 
She  must  have  been  sixty  years  old,  highly  educated, 
intimately  associated  with  people  whose  name  is 
known  around  the  world  in  cultured  circles.  But  I 
will  tell  you  of  a  man  in  Minneapolis.  He  had  once 
been  up  in  the  world.  He  had  been  postmaster  in  his 
home  town.  But  he  had  gone  down  through  drink 
until  he  was  separated  from  wife  and  children  and 
mother  and  all  friends.  He  drifted  to  Minneapolis, 
became  a  beer  slinger  in  the  lowest  saloon  in  the 
city,  “  the  Jumbo  saloon,”  but  became  so  bad  that 
they  kicked  him  out  of  there  and  he  was  a  wanderer 
on  the  streets.  He  had  one  small  coin  left  in  his 
pocket,  all  he  had  in  the  world,  a  ten-cent  piece.  He 
came  down  Washington  avenue  drunk.  He  came  by 
the  brilliantly  lighted  hall  where  I  was  speaking  and 
thought  it  was  some  free-lunch  joint.  He  staggered 
in,  his  hat  on  the  side  of  his  head,  the  stub  of  a 
cigar  which  he  had  picked  out  of  the  gutter  in  his 


112 


HOW  TO  BE  SAVED 


mouth.  He  looked  confusedly  around  the  room.  A 
lady  stepped  up  to  him  and  courteously  asked  him 
if  he  would  not  take  off  his  hat  and  hand  her  the 
stub  of  his  cigar,  which  she  laid  aside.  She  brought 
him  down  to  the  front  of  the  hall,  right  near  the 
platform,  to  the  only  seat  she  could  find  vacant. 
The  speaker,  another  man  who  had  been  wonderfully 
saved  from  drink,  was  telling  of  the  saving  power 
of  Jesus  Christ.  This  poor  down-and-out  leered  up 
at  me  and  lurched  in  his  chair,  and  said,  “  Do  you 
believe  that?”  referring  to  the  testimony  that  the 
man  was  giving.  I  said,  “  Yes,  I  know  that  what 
this  man  says  is  true,  and  the  Lord  Jesus  can  save 
you  too.”  When  the  man  had  finished  his  testimony 
I  said,  “Joe,  take  this  man  around  into  my  office,” 
back  of  the  platform.  After  the  meeting  was  over 
he  was  somewhat  sobered,  and  I  led  him  to  Christ. 
He  left  the  building  a  saved  man.  The  appetite  that 
nothing  else  could  break  was  broken  in  a  moment  by 
the  power  of  the  risen  Christ.  He  never  touched 
another  drop  of  drink.  The  next  day  he  found 
work  peeling  potatoes  in  a  cheap  restaurant.  Soon 
he  found  better  work.  Soon  he  was  an  employee  of 
one  of  the  leading  railroads  in  the  northwest.  He 
was  promoted  from  position  to  position.  I  moved 
to  Chicago  and  took  the  superintendency  of  the  Bible 
Institute  and  he  was  planning  to  come  down  and 
prepare  for  the  ministry.  But  his  health  broke 
down,  and  the  higher  railway  officials  thought  so 
much  of  him  that  they  sent  him  down  to  Missouri 
to  a  warmer  climate,  and  paid  all  his  expenses  for 
months  in  the  hope  he  might  recover.  But  he 
passed  into  the  glory.  After  his  death  his  mother. 


CANNOT  EACH  BE  SAVED? 


113 


to  whom  he  had  been  reunited,  wrote  me  telling  me 
of  his  triumphant  death,  and  sent  me  his  picture, 
saying,  “  you  were  kind  to  my  boy  when  he  was 
down,  and  I  want  you  to  have  this  to  remember  him 
by.”  I  wrote  his  story  on  the  back  of  the  picture 
and  -placed  it  on  the  mantelpiece  in  my  office  in 
Chicago,  and  whenever  I  was  tempted  to  be  dis¬ 
couraged  I  would  turn  around  in  my  chair  and  look 
at  that  noble  Christian  face  looking  down  upon  me 
from  the  mantelpiece.  Yes,  Jesus  “is  able,”  able  to 
snap  the  fetters  of  drink  or  drugs,  or  lust  or  any  sin 
of  any  man  or  any  woman  who  comes  in  utter  help¬ 
lessness  to  Him,  and  puts  their  trust  in  Him  to  set 
them  free. 

3.  In  the  third  place.  Our  Lord  Jesus  is  able  to 
keep  from  falling.  We  read  in  Jude  24,  He  “  is 
able  to  keep  you  from  falling,  and  to  present  you 
faultless  before  the  presence  of  his  glory  with  ex¬ 
ceeding  joy.”  Thank  God  that  we  not  only  read  it 
in  Jude  24,  but  we  read  it  in  the  experience  of  thou¬ 
sands  of  men  and  women  to-day.  Our  Lord  Jesus 
is  proving  every  day  that  He  can  keep  any  man  or 
woman,  any  human  being,  from  falling.  I  have 
known  a  multitude  of  men  and  women  who  have 
thought  that  there  was  no  use  for  them  to  try  to  be 
Christians  or  to  lead  a  better  life  because  of  their 
utter  bondage  to  sin  in  some  form,  sometimes  in 
many  forms.  They  thought  the  Lord  Himself  could 
not  keep  them  from  falling,  but  they  were  persuaded 
to  put  their  trust  in  Him  and  He  has  kept  them  from 
falling.  Let  me  tell  you  of  just  one. 

It  was  in  Ottawa,  Canada.  One  afternoon  there 
came  into  the  meeting  a  most  degraded  looking  speci- 


114 


HOW  TO  BE  SAVED 


men  of  humanity.  Someone  whispered  to  me  that 
he  was  the  champion  welterweight  pugilist  of 
Canada,  and  an  awful  drunkard.  He  was  drunk 
that  afternoon.  Before  I  began  to  preach  I  prayed 
that  God  would  save  him.  I  saw  Mr.  Jacoby  seated 
beside  him,  and  he  afterwards  dealt  with  him  per¬ 
sonally  and  led  him  to  Christ.  They  told  me  that 
the  man  was  such  a  desperate  character  that  a  saloon¬ 
keeper  in  Hull,  across  the  river,  had  hired  him  to 
stand  at  the  bar  and  drink  with  everyone  that  came 
in  who  would  pay  for  his  drinks.  But  knowing  how 
dangerous  he  was  when  drunk,  this  saloon-keeper 
riveted  around  his  ankle  a  heavy  iron  ring,  fastened 
to  a  heavy  chain,  fastened  to  a  great  spike  driven 
into  the  floor.  When  he  professed  to  accept  Christ 
all  Ottawa  was  amazed.  But  they  said  he  would 
not  stand.  Bets  were  made  among  the  members  of 
Parliament  as  to  how  long  he  would  stand.  They 
bet  that  he  would  not  stand  twenty-four  hours.  But 
he  did.  Then  they  bet  that  he  would  not  stand  an¬ 
other  twenty-four  hours.  But  he  did.  Then  they 
bet  that  he  would  not  stand  another  twenty-four 
hours.  But  he  did.  And  they  gave  up  betting.  That 
man  was  only  one  out  of  a  great  multitude.  I  could 
stand  here  by  the  hour  and  tell  of  slaves  of  dope, 
of  cocaine,  of  morphine,  of  chloral,  of  somnos,  and 
of  other  drugs,  slaves  of  drink,  and  slaves  of  the 
gambling  mania,  and  slaves  of  impurity  in  every 
known  form,  and  slaves  of  every  sin  of  which  I  have 
ever  heard,  hopeless  slaves,  despairing  slaves,  seem¬ 
ingly  bound  for  a  hopeless  sinner’s  grave  and  an 
eternal  hell,  who  have  been  set  free  and  have  become 
among  the  finest  Christians  I  have  ever  known.  I 


CANNOT  EACH  BE  SAVED? 


115 


am  not  speculating  to-night,  I  am  not  guessing,  I  am 
not  theorizing.  I  am  telling  you  what  I  know  by  my 
own  personal  experience  and  observation.  And  on 
the  ground  of  that  I  tell  you  that  the  Lord  Jesus 
Christ  is  able  to  keep  any  man  or  woman  in  this 
building  to-night  from  falling,  if  with  an  honest 
heart  you  come  to  Him,  putting  your  trust  in  Him  as 
your  crucified  Saviour  from  the  guilt  of  sin  and  your 
risen  Saviour  from  the  power  of  sin. 

4.  In  the  fourth  place,  Our  Lord  Jesus  Christ , 
our  mighty  Divine  Saviour,  not  the  Saviour  of  Uni- 
tarianism,  or  of  Theosophy,  or  of  Christian  Science, 
or  of  New  Thought,  or  of  the  Higher  Criticism,  or 
of  the  New  Theology,  but  the  Saviour  of  this  Book, 
the  risen  Christ  Jesus,  the  very  Son  of  God,  is  able 
to  completely  transform  the  lives  of  men  and  women 
who  put  their  trust  in  Him.  This  book  says,  in  II 
Cor.  5:17,  “If  any  man  be  in  Christ,  he  is  a  new 
creature  (creation):  old  things  are  passed  away; 
behold,  all  things  are  become  new.”  Yes,  this  book 
says  it,  and  the  experience  of  countless  multitudes 
proves  it  true.  Our  Lord  Jesus  proved  in  the  Bible 
days  that  He  could  completely  transform  men’s  lives 
by  doing  it.  He  transformed,  e.  g.,  Saul  of  Tarsus, 
who  had  stained  his  hands  with  the  blood  of  men 
and  women  and  children,  guilty  of  no  other  crime 
than  that  of  believing  in  Jesus  Christ,  Saul  of  Tarsus 
who  breathed  an  atmosphere  of  “  threatenings  and 
slaughter,”  into  Paul  the  Apostle,  Paul,  whose  heart 
was  filled  with  love  instead  of  hate,  whose  hands 
were  given  to  saving  others  instead  of  slaughtering 
others ;  Paul  who  was  transformed  from  being  Saul, 
a  bigoted  Jew,  into  Paul,  a  devoted  Christian;  Paul 


116 


HOW  TO  BE  SAVED 


who  instead  of  seeking  the  death  of  others  laid  down 
his  own  life  to  save  others.  This  Paul  toward  the 
end  of  his  life  wrote  from  what  he  knew  by  his  own 
experience  as  well  as  by  inspiration  of  God,  “  This 
is  a  faithful  saying,  and  worthy  of  all  acceptation, 
that  Christ  Jesus  came  into  the  world  to  save  sin¬ 
ners;  of  whom  I  am  chief”  (I  Tim.  1:15).  But 
the  still  living  Lord  Jesus,  living  up  yonder  in  the 
glory,  at  the  right  hand  of  God  the  Father,  is  doing 
the  same  thing  to-day  right  down  here  on  earth. 
Here  again  a  crowd  of  memories  surge  before  my 
mind.  Just  one  case. 

A  boy  of  German  parentage  was  drunk  in  Phila¬ 
delphia  at  nine  years  of  age.  At  fifteen  years  of  age 
no  school  could  manage  him,  nor  could  his  father 
and  mother.  He  was  a  young  desperado.  He  en¬ 
listed  in  the  navy  and  spent  four  years  in  the  navy 
during  the  Civil  War.  At  the  end  of  the  Civil  War 
he  was  given  a  place  on  the  Philadelphia  police  force, 
but  was  so  full  of  criminal  traits  himself  that  he  was 
discharged  from  the  Philadelphia  police  force,  and 
the  mayor  of  the  city  said  he  would  not  put  him  on 
the  force  again  if  he  were  his  own  brother.  He  be¬ 
came  a  young  outlaw  in  Philadelphia.  He  joined 
the  regular  army  and  was  sent  west  in  the  Indian 
wars.  He  was  in  some  desperate  encounters,  not  so 
much  with  Indians  as  with  desperadoes,  and  he  was 
as  desperate  and  lawless  as  any  of  them,  and  he  spent 
most  of  his  time  in  the  guard-house.  There  was  a 
motley  company  of  desperadoes  in  the  guard-house 
at  the  time,  some  of  the  most  desperate  criminals  in 
the  land,  and  they  elected  him  chief  of  the  gang. 
He  was  dishonourably  discharged  from  the  army 


CANNOT  EACH  BE  SAVED? 


117 


and  became  a  notorious  character.  He  was  ordered 
out  of  the  city  of  Omaha  by  the  mayor  and  by  the 
chief  of  police  and  given  only  twenty-four  hours  to 
leave  the  city,  because  he  had  nearly  killed  the  bully 
of  Omaha  in  a  fight.  He  was  invited  to  join  the 
Jesse  James  gang.  He  went  to  an  Iowa  town  where, 
because  of  having  considerable  money  left  him  by 
his  father,  he  went  into  business.  But  he  became  so 
notoriously  bad  that  when  the  merchants  of  the  town 
would  hear  his  whoop  as  he  came  up  the  streets  at 
night  they  would  turn  out  the  lights  in  their  stores 
and  put  up  the  shutters  at  the  windows.  The  town 
outlawed  him,  forced  him  to  leave  the  town  and  or¬ 
dered  him  not  to  come  back.  But  he  came  back.  A 
revival  service  was  then  in  progress.  He  went  in 
with  one  of  his  cronies.  When  the  invitation  was 
given  out  for  all  that  would  accept  Christ  to  lift  their 
hands  he  said  to  the  other  man,  “  You  lift  your  hand 
and  I  will  lift  mine/’  The  other  man  said  to  him, 
“  Bill,  you  lift  your  hand  and  I  will  lift  mine.”  But 
they  were  both  joking,  and  ridiculing  the  meeting. 
But  the  next  night,  a  rnan  who  sat  down  here  in 
front  in  this  church  one  morning  a  few  weeks  ago, 
a  prominent  lawyer,  went  to  him  and  said,  “  Bill, 
come  up  to  the  altar,”  and  he  went.  And  the  Lord 
Jesus  met  him  and  saved  him,  and  transformed  him 
into  the  noblest,  truest  man  I  ever  knew,  the  truest 
friend  I  have  on  earth  to-day,  the  dearest  friend  out¬ 
side  of  my  own  family  I  ever  had.  And  if  anyone 
would  ask  me  who  was  the  most  Christlike  man  I 
ever  knew,  without  hesitation  I  would  say,  the  Rev. 
William  S.  Jacoby,  who  at  the  age  of  forty-two 
turned  his  back  upon  a  notorious  career  of  sin  and 


118 


HOW  TO  BE  SAVED 


accepted  Jesus  Christ.  And  our  risen  Lord  proved 
His  resurrection  power  by  completely  transforming 
that  life  into  the  likeness  of  His  own.  Oh !  I  know, 
I  say  I  know,  not  guess,  nor  think,  nor  hope,  I  know 
that  our  Lord  Jesus,  our  Mighty,  Risen,  Divine 
Saviour,  the  Saviour  of  this  man,  is  able  to  trans¬ 
form  any  life  from  all  that  is  vilest  into  all  that  is 
noblest  and  highest  and  most  divine. 

5.  In  the  fifth  place,  Our  Mighty  Lord  Jesus  is 
able  to  fill  the  saddest  hearts  with  the  most  radiant 
joy.  We  read  in  this  book,  in  Ps.  34:5  R.  V., 
“  They  looked  unto  him  and  were  radiant”  and  we 
read  in  I  Pet.  1:8,  “  Though  now  ye  see  him  not, 
yet  believing,  ye  rejoice  with  joy  unspeakable  and 
full  of  glory.”  These  words  were  written  by  one 
whose  heart  was  once  utterly  sad  and  broken,  but  was 
now  filled  “  with  joy  unspeakable  and  full  of  glory.” 
Our  Lord  Jesus  lifts  men  out  of  the  deepest  depths  ot 
utter  despair  to  the  highest  heights  of  rapturous  joy. 
Here  again  crowds  of  men  and  women  in  inconsol¬ 
able  and  utter  sorrow,  whom  it  has  been  my  privilege 
to  introduce  to  Jesus  Christ  and  see,  become  among 
the  most  radiantly  happy  people  I  ever  knew,  pass 
before  me.  I  am  tempted  to  tell  you  of  the  one  I 
knew  best  and  still  know  best  of  all,  myself.  I  know 
what  it  means  to  be  driven  to  such  desperation  by 
heart  agony  that  seemed  unendurable  that  I  started 
to  end  my  own  life.  I  have  known  what  it  means 
to  spring  out  of  bed  with  a  shriek  of  agony  and 
despair  in  the  middle  of  the  night  and  cower  on  the 
floor  in  an  agony  that  was  a  very  hell  on  earth.  In 
years  gone  by  I  have  said,  “  I  know  that  there  is  a 
hell  because  I  have  been  there.”  But  thank  God  for 


CANNOT  EACH  BE  SAVED? 


119 


years  and  years  this  glorious  Lord  Jesus  has  filled 
my  whole  soul  day  and  night  with  a  continuous 
rapturous  joy,  amidst  all  sorts  of  trials  and  perils 
and  losses  on  sea  and  land,  and  in  pretty  nearly 
every  corner  of  the  earth.  But  I  will  tell  of  another 
and  not  myself. 

There  was  a  woman  in  Cleveland,  Ohio,  the  wife 
of  a  well-to-do  merchant.  But  financial  reverses 
overtook  the  man  and  he  was  forced  to  give  up  his 
business,  and  almost  everything  he  had  in  the  world 
was  swept  away.  He  went  to  Chicago  to  see  if  he 
could  not  get  a  new  start  there,  leaving  his  wife,  two 
sons  and  a  daughter  in  Cleveland.  He  was  taken 
sick  in  Chicago  and  they  telegraphed  his  wife  to 
come  on.  She  hurried  to  Chicago,  reaching  there 
late  at  night,  and  drove  at  once  to  the  hospital  where 
her  husband  lay  ill,  very  ill.  But  by  some  strange 
misunderstanding  they  refused  to  allow  her  to  see 
her  husband  that  night,  it  being  so  late,  and  told  her 
to  come  the  next  day.  When  she  came  early  the 
next  day  he  was  dead.  Money  gone,  business  gone, 
husband  gone,  home  gone.  She  spent  hours  in  weep¬ 
ing.  Her  much  weeping  injured  her  eyes.  She 
called  upon  an  eye  specialist,  not  knowing  that  he 
was  a  Christian  Scientist,  but  supposing  him  to  be 
a  regular  practitioner.  Following  his  Christian 
Science  methods,  he  assured  her  that  there  was  no 
serious  trouble  with  her  eyes,  that  they  would  be  all 
right  soon.  This  was  the  assurance  he  gave  her  day 
after  day.  But  her  eyes  became  steadily  worse,  until 
she  finally  consulted  a  real  physician.  After  a  care¬ 
ful  examination  he  said,  "  Madam,  I  am  forced  to 
tell  you  that  there  is  absolutely  no  hope  of  saving 


120 


HOW  TO  BE  SAVED 


your  eyesight.  If  you  had  come  to  me  sooner  your 
eyes  could  easily  have  been  saved,  but  you  have  now 
waited  so  long  it  is  impossible.”  In  a  short  time 
she  was  totally  blind.  Money  gone,  business  gone, 
home  broken  up,  husband  dead,  eyesight  gone!  A 
woman  of  culture  and  refinement  left  to  face  the 
world  with  her  three  children,  no  money,  no  friends, 
no  husband,  no  sight!  Is  it  any  wonder  that  her 
heart  was  filled  with  gloom?  She  came  to  hear  me 
preach  in  Chicago.  She  accepted  the  Lord  Jesus 
Christ.  Her  heart-broken  soul  was  filled  with  radi¬ 
ant  joy.  She  became  a  radiantly  happy  Christian. 
Any  prayer-meeting  night  you  could  have  seen  her 
in  her  place,  in  her  widow’s  garments,  and  with  her 
blind  eyes,  but  with  a  wonderful  smile  upon  her  face. 
And  oftentimes  she  would  rise  and  publicly  thank 
God  for  all  the  losses  that  had  come  into  her  life, 
because  through  them  she  was  led  to  the  Lord  Jesus 
Christ  and  to  find  a  joy  she  had  never  known  when 
she  had  all  this  world  had  to  give.  Years  and  years 
have  passed  since.  I  received  a  letter  from  her  only 
a  short  time  ago,  full  of  trust  and  full  of  longing  to 
see  others  saved  and  helped.  Our  Lord  Jesus  can 
do  the  same  to-night  for  the  saddest-hearted  man  or 
woman  in  this  room.  He  can  fill  and  flood  your  soul 
with  the  wondrous  and  perpetual  sunshine  of  His 
grace.  He  Himself  says,  “  Whosoever  drinketh  of 
the  water  that  I  shall  give  him  shall  never  thirst; 
but  the  water  that  I  shall  give  him  shall  be  in  him 
a  well  of  water  springing  up  into  everlasting  life  ” 
(John  4:14).  It  is  true.  Thousands  upon  thou¬ 
sands  can  testify  to  its  truth. 

People  sometimes  say  that  “religion  makes  men 


CANNOT  EACH  BE  SAVED? 


121 


and  women  crazy.”  Religion  may  make  men  and 
women  crazy,  some  forms  of  religion.  But  Jesus 
Christ  does  not  make  men  crazy.  He  gives  to  those 
who  receive  Him  the  Holy  Spirit,  and  “  The  fruit 
of  the  Spirit  is  love,  joy,  peace,  long-suffering,  kind¬ 
ness,  goodness,  faith,  meekness,  self-control”  (Gal. 
5:22).  Are  these  the  things  that  make  men  crazy? 
Letting  Christ  into  the  heart  has  saved  many  men 
and  women  from  insanity. 

How  many  I  have  known  who  were  on  the  verge 
of  insanity  from  sorrow,  morbidness  and  despair, 
whom  I  have  led  to  Christ,  who  are  radiantly  happy 
people  to-day.  In  order  to  get  this  fullness  of  joy 
every  Christian  must  make  a  full  surrender  to  God. 
There  is  no  fullness  of  joy  to  one  who  tries  to  serve 
the  Lord  Jesus  Christ  with  one  hand  and  to  keep 
fast  hold  on  the  world  with  the  other  hand.  If  we 
keep  back  anything  from  Jesus  Christ  we  will  not 
get  fullness  of  joy.  Are  you  a  professing  Christian, 
and  have  you  not  fullness  of  joy?  Listen!  There 
is  something  you  are  keeping  back  from  God. 

6.  In  the  sixth  place,  Our  Lord  Jesus  Christ  is 
able  to  use  in  glorious  service  those  zvhom  He  saves. 
Our  Lord  Jesus  is  able  to  use  the  unlikeliest  instru¬ 
ment,  the  man  or  woman  of  least  promise.  This 
book  tells  us  that  “  God  hath  chosen  the  foolish 
things  of  the  world  to  confound  the  wise ;  and  God 
hath  chosen  the  weak  things  of  the  world  to  con¬ 
found  the  things  which  are  mighty ;  and  base  things 
of  the  world,  and  things  which  are  despised,  hath 
God  chosen,  yea,  and  things  which  are  not,  to  bring 
to  nought  things  that  are:  that  no  flesh  should  glory 
in  his  presence”  (I  Cor.  1:27-29). 


122 


HOW  TO  BE  SAVED 


How  well  I  remember  a  drunken  expressman  on 
the  streets  of  Chicago,  a  Roman  Catholic  Irishman, 
a  worthless  wreck  but  whom  a  personal  worker  led 
to  accept  Jesus  Christ  as  his  Saviour.  And  dear 
Cully  became  one  of  the  most  useful  soul-winners  in 
Chicago.  It  was  one  of  the  greatest  privileges  of 
my  life  to  be  able  to  do  honour  to  my  Lord,  and 
honour  to  myself,  by  conducting  his  funeral  services, 
to  which  multitudes  flocked. 

7.  In  the  last  place,  Our  Lord  Jesus,  the  risen, 
mighty  Son  of  God,  is  able  to  raise  from  the  dead, 
and  to  give  eternal  life  to  all  who  put  their  trust  in 
Him  in  the  life  that  now  is.  He  Himself  says,  in 
Jno.  6:  39,  40,  “  And  this  is  the  will  of  him  that  sent 
me,  that  of  all  that  which  he  hath  given  me  I  should 
lose  nothing  but  should  raise  it  up  at  the  last  day. 
For  this  is  the  will  of  my  Father,  that  everyone  that 
beholdeth  the  Son,  and  believeth  on  him  shall  have 
eternal  life ;  and  I  zvill  raise  him  up  at  the  last  day.” 
And  He  says  in  Jno.  17:2,  in  that  wonderful  prayer 
of  His  the  night  before  His  crucifixion,  “  Thou  gav- 
est  ”  me  “  authority  over  all  flesh,  that  to  all  whom 
thou  hast  given  me,”  I  “  should  give  eternal  life.” 
It  is  true  that  the  wonderful  and  glorious  work  of 
“our  great  God  and  Saviour  Jesus  Christ”  (Titus 
2:13,  English  R.  V.)  does  not  end  at  death.  It 
begins  there;  i.  e.,  the  best  part  of  it  begins  there. 
Oh !  the  salvation  that  is  limited  to  this  life  is  not 
worth  much.  This  life  is  so  short.  And  eternity  is 
so  long.  A  brief  lifetime  of  bitter  disappointment, 
and  sorrow,  and  loss,  and  intense  and  constant  suf¬ 
fering,  would  pay  if  it  would  bring  us  an  eternity 
of  joy,  and  victory,  and  glory.  But  Jesus  Christ 


CANNOT  EACH  BE  SAVED? 


123 


brings  a  whole  lifetime  of  joy,  and  peace,  and  power, 
and  an  eternity  also  of  boundless  joy,  abounding 
peace,  and  amazing  power  and  glory  hereafter.  He 
is  indeed  “  able  to  save  to  the  uttermost  them  that 
come  unto  God  by  (through)  him.,, 

II.  For  Whom  Does  Our  Lord  Jesus  Do 

These  Things? 

Now  let  us  ask  the  all-important  question,  for 
whom  does  our  glorious  Lord  Jesus  do  these  things 
of  which  we  have  been  speaking?  Whom  does  He 
“save  to  the  uttermost”  and  fill  with  radiant  joy 
in  the  life  that  now  is,  and  crown  with  infinite  glory 
in  the  never-ending  life  that  is  to  come?  The  ques¬ 
tion  can  be  answered  in  a  few  words.  Our  text 
answers  it,  and  the  uniform  experience  of  thousands 
upon  thousands  of  men  and  women  answers  it  the 
same  way.  Listen  to  the  text,  “  He  is  able  to  save 
them  to  the  uttermost  that  come  unto  God  by 
(through )  him  ”  He  saves  to  the  uttermost,  “  them 
that  come  unto  God  through  him All  of  them  and 
no  one  else.  He  will  save  and  fill  with  radiant  joy 
to-night  anyone  here,  any  man,  woman,  or  child  here, 
who  will  “  come  unto  God  through  Him.”  It  mat¬ 
ters  not  who  you  are.  It  matters  not  what  you  have 
done.  It  matters  not  how  helpless  and  hopeless  a 
slave  you  may  be  of  sin  in  any  form.  It  matters 
not  how  dark,  and  sad,  and  full  of  foreboding,  and 
how  despairing  your  heart  may  be :  come  unto  God 
through  Jesus  Christ  and  He  will  save  you  right 
now,  and  He  will  fill  your  heart  with  radiant  joy 
right  now. 

What  does  it  mean  to  **  come  unto  God  through 


124  HOW  TO  BE  SAVED 

Him?”  The  answer  is  simple.  God  is  a  Holy  God, 
and  you  and  I  are  sinners.  And  the  only  way  a  sin¬ 
ner  can  approach  a  Holy  God  is  on  the  ground  of 
atoning  blood,  and  Jesus  Christ  has  shed  His  blood 
to  atone  for  our  sins,  and  His  blood  is  the  only 
atonement  for  sins  in  the  whole  universe.  He  has 
“  redeemed  us  from  the  curse  of  the  law,  having 
become  a  curse  for  us  ”  (Gal.  3: 13),  i.  e.,  by  taking 
our  place  and  bearing  our  penalty.  To  come  unto 
God  through  Jesus  Christ  is  for  the  sinner ,  acknowl¬ 
edging  himself  a  lost  sinner,  with  no  hope  in  himself 
or  in  man,  but  believing  what  God  says  about  Jesus 
Christ,  that  He  has  laid  all  our  sins  upon  Him,  to 
come  to  God  on  the  ground  of  this  atoning  death  of 
Jesus  Christ ,  and  just  trust  God  to  forgive  all  his 
sins,  because  Jesus  Christ  died  in  his  place.  There 
is  no  other  way  for  the  sinner  to  approach  God.  If 
anyone  will  not  come  to  God  through  Jesus  Christ 
he  cannot  come  to  God  at  all.  The  vilest  sinner  this 
world  ever  knew  who  will  believe  God’s  testimony 
about  Jesus  Christ,  and  God’s  testimony  about  Him¬ 
self,  and  take  his  place  as  a  lost  sinner  before  God, 
and  trust  God  for  Jesus  Christ’s  sake  to  forgive  his 
sins,  will  find  salvation.  For  “  He  is  able  to  save 
them  to  the  uttermost  that  come  unto  God  through 
Him,  seeing  He  ever  liveth  to  make  intercession  for 
them.” 

These  things  that  I  have  been  mentioning  are  some 
of  the  things  that  our  Lord  Jesus  is  able  to  do  for 
you  to-night.  Will  you  let  Him  do  them  for  you? 
Will  you  come  to  God  “  through  Him  ”  that  He  may 
do  them  for  you?  Will  you  accept  God’s  testimony 
about  yourself,  that  you  are  an  utterly  lost  sinner. 


CANNOT  EACH  BE  SAVED? 


125 


and  God’s  testimony  about  Jesus  Christ  that  He  has 
borne  your  sins  in  His  own  body  on  the  cross,  and 
accept  Jesus  Christ  as  your  Saviour,  your  Lord  and 
your  King?  If  you  will,  Jesus  Christ,  the  mighty 
Son  of  God,  will  do  these  things  for  you  that  we  have 
been  mentioning.  It  rests  with  each  one  of  you  in¬ 
dividually  to  say  whether  or  not  you  will  have  your 
sins  forgiven  to-night.  The  Lord  Jesus  stands  by 
your  side  to-night  and  says,  “  I  am  able  to  forgive 
all  your  sins  to-night.  Trust  me  and  I  will  do  it.” 
It  rests  with  each  one  of  you  individually  to  say 
whether  or  not  you  shall  have  deliverance  from  sin’s 
power  to-night.  The  Lord  Jesus,  the  Mighty  De¬ 
liverer,  stands  by  your  side  and  says,  “  I  am  able 
to  deliver  you  from  the  power  of  every  sin.”  Ask 
Him  to  do  it,  and  trust  Him  to  do  it.  Put  your 
trust  in  Him  as  your  risen  Lord  and  Saviour,  who 
has  all  power  in  Heaven  and  on  earth,  and  trust  Him 
to  set  you  free  from  every  sin,  and  He  will  do  it. 
It  rests  with  each  one  of  you  individually  to  say 
whether  you  shall  know  the  transforming  power  of 
Jesus  Christ  in  your  life  to-night,  transforming  you 
from  all  that  you  should  not  be,  but  which  you  are, 
into  all  which  you  should  be,  and  which  you  can 
become  by  faith  in  Jesus  Christ.  Jesus  Christ  stands 
right  by  you  to-night  and  says,  “  I  am  able  to  com¬ 
pletely  tranform  your  life,  if  you  will  put  it  in  my 
hands  and  trust  me  to  do  it.”  It  rests  with  each 
one  of  you  individually  to  say  whether  you  will  have 
your  heart  filled  with  radiant  joy  or  not,  to-night. 
Oh,  this  Mighty  Giver  of  the  Holy  Spirit,  Who  be¬ 
comes  to  each  one  who  receives  Him  a  fountain  of 
water  springing  up  every  day  and  every  hour  unto 


126 


HOW  TO  BE  SAVED 


everlasting  life,  leans  down  beside  you,  holding  out 
to  you  to  drink  the  golden  goblet  that  contains  the 
water  of  life.  And  if  you  will  put  your  trust  in 
Him  as  your  crucified  Saviour,  Who  bore  all  your 
sins  in  His  own  body  on  the  cross,  and  your  risen 
Saviour,  and  ask  Him,  and  trust  Him  to  give  you 
His  Holy  Spirit  to  fill  you  with  radiant  joy,  He  will 
do  it.  It  rests  with  each  one  of  you  individually  to 
say  whether  or  not  you  shall  receive  the  sure  guar¬ 
antee  of  being  raised  again  when  you  die,  and  of 
receiving  eternal  life,  and  joy  that  never  ends,  and 
the  hope  of  infinite  power  and  glory.  That  Mighty 
One  whom  God  hath  appointed  to  give  eternal  life 
to  those  who  put  their  trust  in  Him,  and  to  raise 
them  up  at  the  last  day,  stands  by  your  side  and  says, 
“  I  will  give  eternal  life  and  resurrection.  Will  you 
accept  it  as  a  free  gift?”  And  if  you  will  believe 
His  word  and  put  your  trust  in  Him,  He  will  give 
you  eternal  life  and  you  will  never  perish,  and  all 
the  powers  of  earth  and  hell  cannot  pluck  you  out 
of  His  hand  (John  10:28,  29).  “He  is  able!” 
“  He  is  able !  ”  “  He  is  able !  ”  Will  you  come  to 
Him?  Will  you  put  your  trust  in  Him?  Will  you 
surrender  fully  to  Him?  Will  you  put  yourself  in 
His  hands  to  do  with  you  as  He  will?  Will  you 
come  unto  God  through  Jesus  Christ f  If  you  do, 
you  will  get  all  these  things.  He  will  save  you  to 
the  uttermost  and  fill  your  heart  with  radiant  joy. 
If  you  do  not  there  will  be  for  you  barrenness  and 
bitterness,  and  sorrow,  and  emptiness,  and  despair, 
and  spiritual  death,  and  gloom,  and  agony,  and 
gnashing  of  teeth  in  impotent  rage  and  sorrow 
throughout  all  eternity. 


VIII 


THE  UNPARDONABLE  SIN 

“  Wherefore  I  say  unto  you,  All  manner  of  sin 
and  blasphemy  shall  be  forgiven  unto  men:  but  the 
blasphemy  against  the  Holy  Ghost  shall  not  be  for¬ 
given  unto  men.  And  whosoever  speak eth  a  word 
against  the  Son  of  man  it  shall  be  forgiven  him:  but 
whosoever  speaketh  against  the  Holy  Ghost,  it  shall 
not  be  forgiven  him,  neither  in  this  world,  neither  in 
the  world  to  come  ” — Matthew  12:31,  32. 

THIS  passage  is  often  regarded  as  one  of  the 
darkest  and  gloomiest  in  the  Bible.  Many 
have  gone  insane,  or  nearly  insane,  over  this 
passage ;  or  rather,  being  already  diseased  in  mind, 
their  diseased  brains  have  seized  upon  this  passage 
to  brood  over.  But  if  we  look  at  the  passage  care¬ 
fully  we  will  see  that  the  passage  has  its  bright  side, 
and  on  its  bright  side  it  is  one  of  the  most  cheering 
utterances  that  ever  fell  from  the  lips  of  Jesus  Christ. 
It  tells  us  plainly  and  positively  that  in  all  the  cata¬ 
logue  of  sins  that  men  or  women  can  commit  there 
is  only  one  sin  that  puts  a  man  or  woman  beyond 
hope ;  that  there  is  only  one  sin  that  God  will  not 
and  cannot  forgive  if  men  repent  and  turn  to  Jesus 
Christ,  and  that  sin  is  one  that,  as  far  as  my  experi¬ 
ence  goes,  very  few  men  and  very  few  women  have 
committed.  I  have  had  countless  people  come  to  me 

127 


128 


HOW  TO  BE  SAVED 


personally,  and  write  to  me  from  all  parts  of  the 
earth,  who  thought  they  had  committed  this  sin,  and 
of  all  these  who  have  come  to  me  or  written  to 
me,  when  I  came  to  question  them  carefully  it  was 
evident  that  not  one  person  among  them  all  had  com¬ 
mitted  this  sin.  And  most  of  those  who  have  come 
to  me  thinking  they  have  committed  this  sin  have 
come  out  into  a  bright  Christian  experience,  and 
many  of  them  have  since  become  among  the  brightest 
and  most  useful  Christians  I  have  ever  known.  Of 
all  the  men  I  have  ever  led  to  Jesus  Christ,  the  one 
who  in  many  ways  has  had  the  largest  usefulness  of 
all,  usefulness  not  only  in  America,  but  in  England, 
China  and  elsewhere  as  well,  was  one  who  was  so 
sure  that  he  had  committed  the  unpardonable  sin 
that  he  had  attempted  suicide  five  times,  had  had 
poison  pumped  out  of  him  several  times  and  his  life 
barely  saved,  and  he  was  sent  to  me  hundreds  of 
miles  under  guard  to  make  sure  he  got  to  me,  and 
for  fear  he  would  commit  suicide  on  the  way. 

I.  There  is  Only  One  Unpardonable  Sin 

The  first  thing  that  our  Lord  Jesus  makes  very 
plain  in  the  words  which  we  have  taken  for  our  text, 
is  that  there  is  only  one  unpardonable  sin.  He  says, 
“  all  manner  of  sin  and  blasphemy  shall  be  forgiven 
unto  men:  but  the  blasphemy  against  the  Holy  Ghost 
shall  not  be  forgiven  unto  men.”  Language  could 
not  make  it  plainer  that  in  the  whole  catalogue  of 
possible  sins  there  is  only  one  that  men  can  commit 
that  makes  pardon  and  salvation  impossible.  Even 
murder,  as  desperate  and  awful  a  sin  as  it  is,  is  not 
unpardonable.  There  have  been  many  men  and 


THE  UNPARDONABLE  SIN 


129 


women  who  have  stained  their  hands  with  human 
blood  who  have  afterwards  found  pardon  and  eternal 
life,  and  become  among  the  truest  and  noblest  of 
Christians.  I  have  met  quite  a  number  of  persons 
who  thought  that  salvation  was  impossible  for  them 
because  they  had  taken  the  life  of  some  fellow-man, 
but  our  Lord  Jesus  declares  that  there  is  only  one 
unpardonable  sin,  and  that  unpardonable  sin  is  not 
murder. 

David  committed  murder,  one  of  the  most  das¬ 
tardly  murders  in  history,  and  yet  David  found  par¬ 
don.  It  was  after  he  had  brought  upon  his  own 
soul  the  guilt  of  the  death  of  Uriah,  his  faithful  sol¬ 
dier,  that  he  wrote  the  words,  “  Blessed  is  he  whose 
transgression  is  forgiven,  whose  sin  is  covered. 
Blessed  is  the  man  unto  whom  Jehovah  imputeth  not 
iniquity,  and  in  whose  spirit  there  is  no  guile.  When 
I  kept  silence,  my  bones  wasted  away  through  my 
groaning  all  the  day  long.  For  day  and  night  thy 
hand  was  heavy  upon  me ;  my  moisture  was  changed 
as  with  the  drought  of  summer.”  And  then  he  went 
on  to  say,  “  I  acknowledged  my  sin  unto  thee,  and 
mine  iniquity  did  I  not  hide :  I  said,  I  will  confess 
my  transgressions  unto  Jehovah;  and  thou  forgavest 
the  iniquity  of  my  sin”  (Ps.  32:  1-5). 

Saul  of  Tarsus,  who  afterwards  became  Paul  the 
Apostle,  was  a  murderer.  He  was  responsible  for 
the  death  of  men,  women  and  children  whose  only 
fault  was  that  they  believed  on  the  Lord  Jesus 
Christ,  and  yet  he  found  pardon.  The  grossest 
moral  impurity  is  not  unpardonable.  Moral  im¬ 
purity  is  loathsome,  but  it  is  not  unpardonable.  Our 
Lord  declares  that  there  is  only  one  unpardonable  sin,. 


130 


HOW  TO  BE  SAVED 


and  the  sin  He  describes  is  not  moral  impurity.  I 
once  spoke  to  a  man  at  the  close  of  my  Bible  class 
in  Chicago.  I  stepped  up  to  him  and  asked  him  if 
he  were  a  Christian,  and  he  said,  no  he  was  not, 
though  he  would  like  to  be.  I  asked  him  why  he 
was  not  a  Christian,  and  with  tears  running  down 
his  face  he  said  that  he  had  committed  a  sin  for 
which  there  was  no  pardon.  I  told  him  there  was 
only  one  sin  for  which  there  was  no  pardon,  and  I 
asked  him  what  the  sin  was  that  he  had  committed 
for  which  he  thought  there  was  no  pardon.  He  told 
me  what  it  was,  describing  it  very  fully.  It  was 
gross  immorality.  When  he  finished  I  said,  “  The 
Bible  nowhere  says  there  is  no  pardon  for  that  sin.” 
“  But,”  he  replied,  “  I  remember  my  mother  read  a 
passage  in  the  Bible  when  I  was  a  boy,  that  said 
if  a  man  committed  that  sin  he  could  not  be  par¬ 
doned.”  “  No,”  I  said,  “there  is  no  such  passage.” 
But  he  was  sure  that  there  was.  I  racked  my  brains 
to  think  what  passage  he  might  have  in  mind,  and 
suddenly  it  flashed  upon  me,  and  I  said,  “  Oh,  I  think 
I  know  the  passage  to  which  you  refer,”  and  I  opened 
my  Bible  to  I  Cor.  6:9,  10,  and  read,  “Know  ye 
not  that  the  unrighteous  shall  not  inherit  the  king¬ 
dom  of  God?  Be  not  deceived:  neither  fornicators, 
nor  idolaters,  nor  adulterers,  nor  effiminate,  nor 
abusers  of  themselves  with  men,  nor  thieves,  nor 
covetous,  nor  drunkards,  nor  revilers,  nor  extor¬ 
tioners,  shall  inherit  the  kingdom  of  God.”  His  sin 
was  in  that  dreadful  catalogue,  and  he  said,  “  That 
is  the  passage.  Doesn’t  it  say  there  that  the  one  who 
commits  this  sin  shall  not  inherit  the  kingdom  of 
God  ?  ”  I  said,  “  Let  me  read  you  the  next  verse,” 


THE  UNPARDONABLE  SIN 


131 


and  I  read,  “  And  such  were  some  of  you :  but  ye 
were  washed,  but  ye  were  sanctified,  but  ye  were 
justified  in  the  name  of  the  Lord  Jesus  Christ,  and 
in  the  spirit  of  our  God.”  “Does  it  say  that?”  he 
cried.  I  said,  “  Look  at  it,”  and  I  put  the  book  in 
his  hand  and  he  read,  “  And  such  were  some  of  you: 
but  ye  were  washed,  but  ye  were  sanctified,  but  ye 
were  justified.”  “  Thank  God,  thank  God,”  he  ex¬ 
claimed.  He  then  and  there  accepted  Christ.  A 
few  weeks  afterward  he  brought  to  Chicago  the  wife 
whom  he  had  deserted  in  Indianapolis  to  go  off  into 
his  life  of  sin.  He  introduced  her  and  his  grown 
daughter  to  me,  and  they  accepted  Christ.  He  is 
to-day  an  officer  in  the  Chicago  Avenue  church,  and 
one  of  the  most  earnest  men  in  the  church.  Pro¬ 
fanity  and  blasphemy  are  not  unpardonable,  except 
the  one  blasphemy  against  the  Holy  Ghost.  The 
most  outrageous  and  blatant  infidelity  are  not  un¬ 
pardonable.  Saul  of  Tarsus,  before  his  conversion, 
was  a  blasphemer,  he  was  a  rank  infidel  so  far  as 
Jesus  Christ  was  concerned.  So  far  from  believing 
Him  to  be  the  Son  of  God  he  believed  Him  to  be 
an  impostor.  He  says  of  himself  that  before  his 
conversion  he  “was  a  blasphemer,  and  a  persecutor, 
and  injurious,”  but  that  the  Lord  Jesus  had  saved 
him,  and  in  view  of  this  he  exclaims,  “  This  is  a 
faithful  saying,  and  worthy  of  all  acceptation,  that 
Jesus  Christ  came  into  the  world  to  save  sinners,  of 
whom  I  am  chief.” 

II.  What  is  the  Unpardonable  Sin? 

We  come  then  to  the  question,  What  is  the  un¬ 
pardonable  sin? 


132 


HOW  TO  BE  SAVED 


1.  First  of  all  let  me  say  that  the  unpardonable 
sin  is  a  definite  act.  It  is  not  a  certain  attitude  of 
mind;  it  is  an  act.  It  is  not  a  series  of  actions, 
though  it  may  be  the  outcome  of  a  series  of  actions, 
it  is  one  definite  act.  This  is  evident  from  our 
Lord’s  words.  The  same  thing  is  evident  from  I 
John  5:16,  “If  any  man  see  his  brother  sinning  a 
sin  not  unto  death,  he  shall  ask,  and  God  will  give 
him  life  for  them  that  sin  not  unto  death.  There 
is  a  sin  unto  death.”  The  unpardonable  sin,  the  sin 
unto  death,  is  one  definite  sin. 

2.  Furthermore,  the  unpardonable  sin  is  a  sin  of 
which  one  may  know  definitely  whether  he  has  com¬ 
mitted  it  or  not.  A  great  many  fear  that  they  have 
committed  the  unpardonable  sin.  They  are  not  sure 
that  they  have.  They  are  not  at  all  clear  as  to  what 
the  one  unpardonable  sin  may  be.  But  the  unpar¬ 
donable  sin  is  a  sin  of  such  a  definite  and  clearly 
defined  character  that  one  may  know  to  a  certainty 
whether  he  has  committed  it  or  not. 

3.  What  is  this  definite  act,  what  is  this  one  un¬ 
pardonable  sin?  This  definite  unpardonable  sin  our 
Lord  Jesus  Christ  tells  us  in  so  many  words  is 
the  blasphemy  against  the  Holy  Ghost.  He  says, 
“  Wherefore  I  say  unto  you,  All  manner  of  sin  and 
blasphemy  shall  be  forgiven  unto  men:  but  the 
blasphemy  against  the  Holy  Ghost  shall  not  be  for¬ 
given  unto  men.”  And  in  further  explanation  He 
says,  “  And  whosoever  speaketh  a  word  against  the 
Son  of  man  it  shall  be  forgiven  him :  but  whosoever 
speaketh  against  the  Holy  Ghost,  it  shall  not  be  for¬ 
given  him,  neither  in  this  world,  neither  in  the  world 
to  come.”  So  it  is  evident  that  the  one  definite  un- 


THE  UNPARDONABLE  SIN 


133 


pardonable  sin  is  the  definite  blasphemy  against  the 
Holy  Ghost.  What  is  blasphemy  against  the  Holy 
Ghost?  The  context  in  which  these  words  are  found 
will  tell  us.  The  Pharisees  had  seen  the  miracles  of 
the  Lord  Jesus  Christ;  they  had  seen  His  works  of 
divine  power  and  heard  His  words  of  divine  grace. 
They  had  seen  in  these  miracles  clear  evidence  that 
Jesus  was  a  teacher  sent  from  God  who  spoke  the 
very  words  of  God  (Jno.  3:2),  that  He  was  the 
Messiah,  the  Christ.  They  had  been  unwilling  to 
accept  Him  as  such,  because  of  what  it  would  cost 
them  to  accept  Him.  They  had  refused  to  accept 
or  acknowledge  Him  as  the  Christ.  But  the  evi¬ 
dence  that  He  was  the  Christ  was  so  overwhelming 
that  at  last  in  their  determination  not  to  accept  Him 
they  had  deliberately  attributed  His  works,  which 
they  knew  to  be  the  work  of  the  Holy  Ghost,  to  the 
devil.  They  had  said,  as  recorded  in  this  very  chap¬ 
ter  in  the  immediate  connection,  “  This  fellow  doth 
not  cast  out  devils,  but  by  Be-el-ze-bub  the  prince 
of  the  devils.”  In  other  words,  they  had  deliber¬ 
ately  attributed  to  the  devil  what  they  knew  to  be 
the  work  of  the  Holy  Spirit.  This  then  is  the  un¬ 
pardonable  sin,  the  only  unpardonable  sin,  the  de¬ 
liberately  ascribing  to  the  devil  what  you  know  to 
be  the  work  of  the  Holy  Spirit.  It  is  not  merely  the 
attributing  to  the  devil  what  is  the  work  of  the  Holy 
Ghost,  but  what  you  know  to  be  the  work  of  the 
Holy  Ghost.  Have  you  committed  this  sin?  Have 
you  deliberately  attributed  to  the  devil  work  that 
you  know  to  be  the  work  of  the  Holy  Spirit?  You 
reply,  “  I  have  been  a  great  sinner.”  That  is  not 
my  question.  Have  you  definitely  attributed  to  the 


134 


HOW  TO  BE  SAVED 


devil  what  you  know  to  be  the  work  of  the  Holy 
Spirit?  If  not,  then  you  have  not  committed  the 
unpardonable  sin,  and  there  is  pardon  and  salvation 
for  you  to-night  if  you  will  turn  from  your  sin, 
whatever  it  may  be,  and  accept  the  Lord  Jesus  Christ. 
“  But,”  you  say,  “  I  have  sinned  against  the  light ;  I 
have  resisted  the  Holy  Ghost.”  That  is  not  the 
point.  You  may  have  done  all  this,  but  have  you 
definitely  attributed  to  the  devil  what  you  knew  to 
be  the  work  of  the  Holy  Spirit?  Many  have  sinned 
against  the  light ;  many  have  resisted  the  Holy  Ghost. 
I  did  for  years,  but  thank  God  I  had  not  blasphemed 
the  Holy  Ghost;  I  had  not  attributed  to  the  devil 
what  I  knew  to  be  the  work  of  the  Holy  Spirit,  and 
I  found  pardon  and  am  a  saved  man  to-night. 
“  But,”  you  will  say,  “  I  have  sinned  so  long  I  fear 
I  have  sinned  away  the  day  of  grace.  My  heart  is 
hard  and  nothing  moves  it  now.  I  have  no  desire 
to  repent.”  That  is  not  the  question.  One  may  do 
all  these  things,  and  many  have  done  all  these  things, 
and  yet  have  turned  to  Christ  and  found  pardon. 
The  question  is,  have  you  deliberately  and  inten¬ 
tionally  attributed  to  the  devil  what  you  knew  to 
be  the  work  of  the  Holy  Ghost?  If  you  have,  you 
have  committed  the  unpardonable  sin  and  there  is 
no  pardon  or  hope  for  you;  but  if  you  have  not, 
whatever  else  you  may  have  done  you  have  not  com¬ 
mitted  the  unpardonable  sin  and  there  is  pardon  for 
you  to-night,  pardon  for  you  and  salvation  for  you 
before  you  leave  this  building,,  if  you  turn  your  back 
upon  sin  and  accept  the  Lord  Jesus  Christ.  There 
is  but  one  unpardonable  sin  and  you  have  not  com¬ 
mitted  that,  and  as  I  say,  if  you  turn  from  your 


THE  UNPARDONABLE  SIN 


135 


other  sins,  whatever  they  may  be,  and  turn  to  God 
and  to  Christ,  even  without  one  bit  of  feeling,  you 
will  be  saved  to-night.  The  Bible  says,  “  To  him 
(i.  e.,  to  Jesus)  bear  all  the  prophets  witness,  that 
through  his  name  every  one  that  believeth  on  him 
shall  receive  remission  of  sins”  (Acts  10:43).  And 
He  says  again,  that  “  as  many  as  received  him,  to 
them  gave  he  the  right  to  become  children  of  God, 
even  to  them  that  believe  on  his  name.” 

III.  Why  is  the  Blasphemy  Against  the  Holy 
Ghost  Unpardonable? 

There  is  another  important  question  for  us  to  con¬ 
sider  to-night,  and  that  is  why  the  blasphemy  against 
the  Holy  Ghost  is  unpardonable. 

1.  First  of  all,  The  blasphemy  against  the  Holy 
Ghost  is  unpardonable  because  it  indicates  such  a  de¬ 
termined  choice  of  evil  that  a  man's  character  is 
determined  finally  and  forever  in  evil.  A  man  will 
not  deliberately  attribute  to  the  devil  what  he  knows 
to  be  the  work  of  the  Spirit  of  God  unless  he  has 
settled  it  finally  and  forever  that  he  will  not  accept 
the  truth ;  so  the  man  dooms  himself  to  eternal  sin¬ 
fulness  and  so  to  eternal  punishment.  Such  a  sin 
comes  at  the  end  of  a  course  of  persistent  rejection 
of  the  truth  and  persistent  rejection  of  Jesus  Christ. 

2.  This  sin  is  unpardonable ,  in  the  second  place, 
because  the  one  who  deliberately  commits  such  a  sin 
so  determines  his  character  that  repentance  becomes 
impossible.  If  any  man  will  repent  and  come  to 
Christ  he  will  be  saved;  for  the  Lord  Jesus  Christ 
has  declared  in  the  most  unmistakable  terms,  “  Him 
that  cometh  to  me  I  will  in  no  wise  cast  out  ”  (John 


136 


HOW  TO  BE  SAVED 


6:37).  But  the  man  who  commits  this  sin  has  de¬ 
termined  that  he  will  not  come  to  Christ,  and  there¬ 
fore  does  not  come  to  Christ,  and  therefore  cannot 
be  pardoned.  The  fact  that  one  is  concerned  about 
his  spiritual  condition,  the  fact  that  one  is  troubled 
about  his  sins,  the  fact  that  one  desires  to  come  to 
Christ  is  of  itself  conclusive  proof  that  one  has  not 
as  yet  committed  the  unpardonable  sin.  On  the 
other  hand,  all  conscious  continuance  in  sin,  all  de¬ 
liberate  refusal  to  listen  to  the  truth,  all  deliberate 
refusal  to  accept  the  Lord  Jesus  Christ  when  you 
know  that  you  ought  to  accept  Him,  all  turning  of 
a  deaf  ear  to  the  voice  of  the  Holy  Spirit,  every  such 
an  act  is  a  step  toward  the  unpardonable  sin.  This 
was  the  course  of  conduot  that  led  the  Pharisees  of 
our  text  to  commit  the  unpardonable  sin.  Before 
their  very  eyes  they  had  conclusive  proof  that  Jesus 
was  what  He  claimed  to  be,  time  and  time  again  they 
were  moved  to  accept  Him;  but  they  would  not. 
Time  and  time  again  they  said  “  No  ”  to  the  voice 
of  the  Spirit  of  God,  and  they  had  so  hardened 
themselves  in  the  rejection  of  Christ  that  at  last  in 
deliberate  determination  they  had  attributed  His 
words  to  the  devil,  and  became  utterly  blinded  in 
mind  and  utterly  incapable  of  repentance.  And  some 
of  you  are  pursuing  exactly  the  same  course  to-night. 
Time  and  time  again  you  have  been  moved  by  the 
Holy  Spirit  to  accept  Christ;  time  and  time  again 
you  have  said  “  No  ”  to  the  voice  of  the  Spirit  of 
God,  and  you  are  trying  to  say  “  No  ”  to  the  Spirit 
of  God  to-night,  as  He  urges  upon  you  the  necessity 
of  forsaking  your  sins  and  accepting  Christ.  You 
are  walking  straight  toward  the  unpardonable  sin 


THE  UNPARDONABLE  SIN 


187 


and  toward  a  hopeless  and  eternal  hell.  Every  one 
of  you  here  to-night  who  has  heard  the  Gospel  be¬ 
fore  and  refused  it,  every  one  of  you  that  knows  that 
Jesus  Christ  is  the  Son  of  God  and  yet  refuses  to 
accept  Him  as  your  Saviour,  every  one  of  you  who 
has  been  moved  by  the  Holy  Spirit  once,  twice,  three 
times,  perhaps  more  frequently,  in  the  past  and  have 
said  “  No  ”  every  time,  every  time  you  say  “  No  ” 
to  the  Holy  Spirit  you  are  confirming  yourself  in 
sin,  you  are  bringing  yourself  more  and  more  surely 
near  to  the  point  where  you  will  commit  the  unpar¬ 
donable  sin  and  your  destiny  be  eternally  sealed. 

Some  years  ago  there  was  a  great  religious  awak¬ 
ening  in  one  of  our  colleges.  Many  turned  to  Christ. 
Two  young  men  were  under  deep  conviction,  but 
they  would  not  yield.  In  their  determination  not  to 
yield  they  agreed  together  that  on  a  certain  night 
they  would  meet  at  the  college  chapel  and  go  into 
the  chapel  together  and  blaspheme  the  Holy  Ghost. 
At  the  appointed  hour  they  met  in  front  of  the 
chapel.  The  heart  of  one  of  them  failed  him,  and 
he  repented,  turned  to  the  Lord  Jesus  Christ  and 
was  saved.  The  other  one  went  into  the  chapel 
alone.  What  he  did  in  there  no  one  but  he  ever 
knew,  but  when  he  came  out  he  was  pale  as  a  ghost. 
He  went  into  utter  infidelity,  became  one  of  the  lead¬ 
ers  of  the  infidel  society  in  Chicago,  lived  many  years 
and  died  as  he  had  lived,  and  was  everlastingly 
lost. 

The  Spirit  of  God  is  speaking  to  many  of  you  here 
to-night.  He  has  spoken  to  you  often  before.  You 
know  you  ought  to  accept  Christ.  You  know  you 
ought  to  confess  Him.  If  to-night  you  say  “  No  ” 


138 


HOW  TO  BE  SAVED 


to  Him  again  you  may  so  determine  yourself  in  sin 
that  repentance  will  become  impossible  and  you  will 
be  lost  forever.  You  will  be  as  surely  lost  for  all 
eternity  as  when  you  have  been  in  hell  ten  million 
years.  On  the  other  hand,  anyone  here  to-night 
who  will  accept  Christ,  no  matter  what  your  past 
may  have  been,  no  matter  how  grossly  you  may  have 
sinned,  no  matter  how  frightful  your  sins  may  have 
been,  no  matter  how  long  you  have  sinned,  if  you 
will  come  to  Christ  to-night  there  is  pardon,  salva¬ 
tion,  and  eternal  life  for  you.  Will  you  yield  and 
accept  Jesus  Christ  right  now? 


IX 


THE  BLOOD  OF  JESUS  CHRIST,  GOD’S  SON, 
CLEANSETH  FROM  ALL  SIN 

“  If  we  walk  in  the  light,  as  he  is  in  the  light,  we 
have  fellowship  one  with  another,  and  the  blood  of 
Jesus  his  son  cleanseth  us  from  all  sin  ” — I  John 

1 :  7* 

ONE  week  ago  to-night  we  saw  that  Jesus  is 
the  Christ,  the  Son  of  God.  To-night  we 
shall  see  that  the  blood  of  Jesus,  whom  we 
saw  last  Sunday  night  to  be  the  Son  of  God, 
cleanseth  from  every  trace  of  sin  certain  persons, 
and  we  shall  see  also  how  we  ourselves  can  become 
such  persons  as  are  cleansed  from  every  trace  of  sin 
by  the  blood  of  Christ  Jesus. 

I.  How  We  Know  that  the  Blood  of  Jesus 
Cleanses  From  All  Sin 
The  first  question  that  confronts  us  to-night  is, 
How  do  we  know  that  the  blood  of  Jesus  cleanseth 
from  every  trace  of  sin? 

i.  First  of  all,  We  know  that  the  blood  of  JesiAS 
cleanses  from  every  trace  of  sin  because  the  Bible 
says  so,  and  we  have  seen  on  former  occasions  that 
the  whole  Bible  is  the  Word  of  God,  and  that  there¬ 
fore  everything  it  says  is  indubitably  and  unquali¬ 
fiedly  true.  I  have  no  hesitation  in  believing  without 

13  a 


140 


HOW  TO  BE  SAVED 


any  qualification  or  abatement  or  discount  or  attempt 
at  a  spiritualizing  and  vaporizing  evasion  of  its  plain 
meaning  everything  this  book  says,  or  to  be  more 
exact  and  definite,  everything  that  God,  “  who  can¬ 
not  lie,”  says  in  this  book.  Now  here  in  our  text 
we  read  what  God  says,  not  what  John  says,  but 
what  God  says,  “  The  blood  of  Jesus  his  son  cleans- 
eth  us  from  all  sin.” 

Practically  the  same  thought  is  found  in  Eph.  i :  7, 
“  We  have  our  redemption  through  his  blood ,  the 
forgiveness  of  our  sins,  according  to  the  niches  of  his 
grace.”  God  here  tells  us  through  Paul  that  the  be¬ 
liever  in  Jesus  Christ  has  “redemption,”  i.  e.,  “the 
forgiveness  of  his  sins,”  through  the  blood  of  Jesus 
Christ.  Forgiveness  of  sin  is  not  something  the  be¬ 
liever  in  Christ  is  to  get  at  some  time  in  the  future 
when  he  has  gone  through  purgatory  or  when  he 
has  struggled  long  and  successfully  against  his  sin¬ 
ful  tendencies  and  against  his  temptations,  or  when 
he  comes  to  die,  or  when  the  Lord  Jesus  comes 
back  again :  forgiveness  of  sins  is  something  the 
believer  in  Jesus  Christ  gets  because  of  the  atoning 
sacrifice  of  the  blood  of  Christ  the  moment  he  ac¬ 
cepts  as  his  own  personal  Saviour  that  Jesus  Christ 
who  made  perfect  atonement  for  his  sins  on  the  cross 
of  Calvary ,  and  surrenders  to  Him  as  his  Lord  and 
Master  and  confesses  Him  as  such  before  the  world. 
Forgiveness  of  sin  is  something  anyone  in  this  audi¬ 
ence  to-night  can  get  right  here  now,  so  that  he  may 
know  that  every  sin  he  ever  committed,  or  ever  shall 
commit,  every  sin  great  or  small,  the  blackest  sin 
that  any  man  or  woman  ever  could  commit,  and  the 
smallest  sin  he  ever  did  commit,  is  blotted  out  of 


THE  BLOOD  OF  JESUS  CHRIST  141 


God’s  book  and  out  of  God’s  remembrance  concern¬ 
ing  him  forever.  Oh,  precious  Gospel!  and  greatly 
needed  Gospel,  needed  by  every  one  of  us,  needed 
by  you  fine  women,  who  smugly  admire  your  own 
immaculate  virtue,  as  truly  as  by  the  woman  upon 
whom  you  would  scarcely  deign  to  wipe  your  feet 
because  of  her  disgusting  vileness  and  indescribable 
shame ;  needed  by  you  Nathaniels,  “  Israelites  indeed 
in  whom  is  no  guile,”  as  truly  as  by  the  publican 
who  smites  upon  his  breast  and  cries,  “  God  be  merci¬ 
ful  to  me  the  sinner — the  consummate  sinner.” 

The  same  thought  is  found  in  Rom.  5:9,  “  Being 
now  justified  by  (in)  his  blood  ”  God  here  tells  us 
through  Paul  that  every  believer  in  Christ  is  “now 
justified  ” — not  is  going  to  be  justified  at  some  future 
time  when  he  gets  wholly  sanctified  or  gets  through 
purgatory,  or  when  he  dies  and  gets  to  Heaven,  but 
is  justified  the  moment  he  believes.  Justified  means 
more  than  forgiven,  it  means  reckoned  righteous. 
The  whole  verse  means  that  God  not  only  forgives, 
i.  e.,  dismisses  from  His  memory,  every  sin  the  be¬ 
liever  in  Christ  has  ever  committed,  but  that  fur¬ 
thermore  He  puts  to  the  believer’s  account,  because 
of  the  shed  blood  of  Christ,  the  perfect  propitiation 
for  the  believer’s  sin  (Rom.  3:25,  26),  all  his  own 
absolutely  perfect  righteousness  as  exhibited  in  the 
life  of  Jesus  Christ,  God  manifested  in  the  flesh.  Or 
as  Paul  puts  it  in  another  place  (II  Cor.  5:21), 
“  Him  who  knew  no  sin  God  made  to  be  sin  on  our 
behalf ;  that  we  might  become  the  righteousness  of 
God  in  him.”  When  Jesus  the  Son  of  God  shed  His 
blood  on  the  cross  and  thus  made  a  perfect  “  pro¬ 
pitiation  for  our  sins”  (I  Jno.  2:2),  a  propitiation 


142 


HOW  TO  BE  SAVED 


perfectly  acceptable  to  God,  He  took  our  proper 
place  of  curse  and  condemnation  arid  rejection  be¬ 
fore  God,  and  the  moment  we  take  Him  we  step  into 
His  place  of  perfect  acceptance  before  God,  and  God 
looks  at  us,  no  matter  how  vile  we  may  have  been, 
through  Him  and  sees  us  covered  all  over  from  head 
to  foot  with  His  own  perfect  and  glorious  righteous¬ 
ness.  If  the  vilest  woman  in  Los  Angeles  should 
come  in  here  to-night  and  accept  Jesus  Christ  as  her 
personal  Saviour,  and  surrender  to  Him  as  her  Lord 
and  Master,  and  confess  Him  as  such  before  the 
world,  the  moment  she  did  it  every  sin  she  had  ever 
committed  would  he  blotted  out  and  she  would  he 
as  perfect  in  her  standing  before  God  as  the  purest 
woman  in  this  room.  Some  years  ago  I  was  preach¬ 
ing  one  Sunday  morning  in  the  Moody  Church  in 
Chicago  on  Rom.  8:  i,  “  There  is  therefore  now  no 
condemnation  to  them  that  are  in  Christ  Jesus,”  and 
I  made  this  remark,  “If  the  vilest  woman  in  Chicago 
should  come  into  the  Chicago  Avenue  church  this 
morning  and  should  here  and  now  accept  Jesus  Christ 
as  her  Saviour,  the  moment  she  did  it  every  sin  she 
ever  committed  would  be  blotted  out  and  her  record 
would  be  as  white  in  God’s  sight  as  that  of  the  purest 
woman  in  the  room.”  Unknown  to  me,  one  of  the 
members  of  my  congregation  had  gone  out  that  very 
morning  to  one  of  the  lowest  dens  of  infamy  in  the 
city  and  sought  out  a  woman,  an  utter  outcast,  and 
invited  her  to  come  to  the  church  to  hear  me  preach. 
But  the  woman  replied,  “  Church  is  not  for  the  likes 
of  me.  I  would  not  be  welcome  at  church.”  To  which 
the  woman  replied,  “  You  would  be  welcome  at  our 
church,”  which,  thank  God,  was  true.  But  the 


THE  BLOOD  OF  JESUS  CHRIST  143 


woman  said,  “  No,  church  is  not  for  the  likes  of  me.” 
Then  the  pure  woman  said,  “If  you  will  go  with 
me  I  will  go  with  you.”  “  No,”  the  woman  who 
was  a  sinner  said,  “  that  would  never  do.  The  police 
know  me,  and  the  boys  on  the  streets  know  me  and 
sometimes  throw  stones  at  me,  and  if  they  should 
see  you  going  up  the  street  with  me  they  would  think 
you  were  just  such  as  I  am.”  But  the  woman  who 
was  a  saint  said,  “  I  don’t  care  what  they  think  about 
me;  if  you  will  go  with  me  I  will  go  with  you.” 
But  the  woman  would  not  consent.  At  last  they 
agreed  on  this,  that  the  woman  who  was  a  saint 
would  walk  a  few  steps  ahead  and  the  woman  who 
was  a  sinner  would  come  a  few  steps  behind.  So 
on  they  came,  block  after  block,  up  LaSalle  avenue, 
the  woman  who  was  a  saint  a  few  steps  ahead  and 
the  woman  who  was  a  sinner  a  few  steps  behind. 
At  last  they  reached  the  Moody  Church.  The  woman 
who  was  a  saint  ascended  the  stairs,  entered  the  audi¬ 
torium  and  took  a  seat.  The  woman  who  was  a 
sinner  followed,  timidly  pushed  open  the  door,  saw 
one  vacant  seat  in  the  last  row  under  the  gallery  and 
slipped  into  it.  She  had  scarcely  taken  her  seat  when 
I  made  the  statement  which  I  have  just  quoted,  “  If 
the  vilest  woman  in  Chicago  should  come  into  the 
Chicago  Avenue  church  this  morning  and  should 
here  and  now  accept  Jesus  Christ  as  her  Saviour, 
the  moment  she  did  it  every  sin  she  ever  committed 
would  be  blotted  out  and  her  record  would  be  as 
white  in  God’s  sight  as  that  of  the  purest  woman  in 
this  room.”  My  words  went  floating  down  over  the 
heads  of  the  audience  and  dropped  down  into  the 
heart  of  this  woman  who  was  a  sinner,  in  the  last 


144 


HOW  TO  BE  SAVED 


seat  underneath  the  gallery.  She  saw  Jesus  hanging 
on  the  cross  in  her  place,  put  her  trust  in  Him,  and 
God  then  and  there  forgave  her  and  put  to  her  ac¬ 
count  all  the  righteousness  of  Jesus  Christ,  and 
when  the  meeting  was  over  she  came  down  the  aisle 
weeping,  to  meet  me  and  to  thank  me  for  what  God 
had  done  for  her  that  morning. 

2.  In  the  second  place,  We  know  that  the  blood 
of  Jesus  Christ  cleanseth  from  all  sin  by  experience , 
by  the  experience  of  thousands.  Thousands  upon 
thousands  of  sinners,  some  of  them  among  the  wick¬ 
edest  men  and  women  that  ever  walked  this  earth, 
among  others  Paul,  who  said,  and  who  rightfully 
said,  that  he  was  “  the  chief  ”  of  sinners,  because 
he  had  stained  his  hands  with  the  blood  of  a  multi¬ 
tude  of  men,  women  and  children  whose  only  crime 
was  that  they  obeyed  and  confessed  their  rightful 
Lord  Jesus  Christ  (I  Tim.  1:15-17),  I  say  there 
are  thousands  upon  thousands  of  sinners,  including 
many  of  the  worst  this  sinful  world  has  ever  known, 
who  testify  that  the  blood  of  Jesus  Christ  has 
cleansed  them  from  all  sin,  and  that  the  Holy  Spirit 
to-day  is  bearing  witness  together  with  their  spirit 
that  they  are  children  of  God  (Rom.  8:  16). 

If  there  is  anything  absolutely  sure  in  this  old 
world,  so  full  of  doubt  and  uncertainty,  it  is  that  the 
blood  of  Jesus  cleanses  from  all  sin.  Let  subtle  and 
self-satisfied  infidels  and  theologians  go  and  specu¬ 
late  and  split  hairs  to  their  heart’s  content  as  to  what 
is  philosophical  and  what  is  not,  what  is  possible 
and  what  is  not,  what  is  God’s  Word  and  what  is 
not  God’s  Word,  but  this  fact,  not  theological  or 
philosophical  speculation  but  fact,  stands  absolutely 


THE  BLOOD  OF  JESUS  CHRIST  145 


and  eternally  sure,  that  “the  blood  of  Jesus  his  son 
cleanseth  from  all  sin.”  That  is  not  something  I 
guess  but  something  I  know.  I  know  it  because  God 
says  so,  and  He  “cannot  lie,”  and  I  know  it  also 
by  blessed  personal  experience.  Years  ago  I  pumped 
my  head  full  of  a  lot  of  evolutionary  and  other  un¬ 
proven  and  senseless  philosophy,  but  even  that  was 
not  able  to  drown  out  what  I  knew,  that  the  blood 
of  Jesus  had  cleansed  me  from  all  sin.  Praise  God! 

II.  Just  What  Does  the  Bible  Mean  When  It 
Says  the  Blood  of  Jesus  Cleanseth 
Us  From  All  Sin? 

Now  we  come  to  the  second  question,  Just  what 
does  the  Bible  mean  when  it  says  that  “  the  blood 
of  Jesus  his  Son  cleanseth  us  from  all  sin”?  The 
Bible  makes  that  also  clear  as  day.  One  of  the 
many  wonderful  things  about  this  wonderful  Book  . 
of  God  is  that  it  interprets  its  own  statements  in  an 
unmistakable  way,  and  therefore  does  not  leave  us  at 
the  mercy  of  priests  or  popes  or  any  unconverted 
and  unregenerated  and  sin-blinded  theologians, 
Protestant  or  Roman  Catholic,  to  get  our  interpreta¬ 
tions  from  them.  That  is  the  kind  of  theologians 
that  that  subtle  old  enemy  the  devil  has  succeeded 
in  packing  some  of  our  theological  seminaries  with 
in  this  day.  What  then  does  the  Bible  mean  when 
it  says  that  “  the  blood  of  Jesus  his  son  cleanseth 
us  from  all  sin  ”?  To  be  more  specific,  does  it  mean 
that  the  blood  of  Jesus  cleanses  believers  from  the 
guilt  their  sins  bring  upon  the  sinner,  or  does  it  mean 
that  the  blood  of  Jesus  cleanses  the  believer  from  the 
very  presence  of  sin  itself?  I  say  that  the  Bible  it- 


.146 


HOW  TO  BE  SAVED 


self  answers  these  questions  in  the  most  unmistak¬ 
able  terms.  If  you  will  take  your  Bible  and  your 
concordance  and  look  up  every  passage  in  the  Bible 
where  the  word  “  cleanse  ”  is  used  in  connection  with 
the  word  “  blood 99  you  will  find  that  in  every  in¬ 
stance,  CLEANSING  BY  BLOOD  IS  CLEANSING  FROM 
guilt.  We  of  course  have  not  time  to  read  all  the 
passages  to-night,  for  they  are  very  many,  but  if  you 
will  come  to  me  at  the  close  of  this  meeting  I  will 
tell  you  where  to  find  them  and  you  can  hunt  them 
up  for  yourself  and  be  convinced.  (Lev.  16:30, 
17:  11 ;  14:  19,  31;  Jer.  33:8;  Psa.  51:7;  Rev.  1:5; 
Rev.  7:14;  Heb.  9 :  22,  23 ;  Eph.  1:7;  Rom.  3 :  25 ; 
Rom.  5:9;  Matt.  26:28.) 

The  thought  then  of  our  text  interpreted  in  the 
light  of  the  uniform  and  unvarying  teaching  of  the 
Bible,  Old  Testament  and  New  Testament,  is  that 
all  who  “  walk  in  the  light  ”  are  cleansed  continu¬ 
ously  (the  present  tense  of  cleanse  is  used,  denoting 
continuous  action),  cleansed  every  day  and  every 
hour  and  every  minute,  from  all  the  guilt  of  sin , 
there  is  not  one  spot  or  trace  of  sin  upon  them  in 
God's  reckoning.  There  is  absolutely  no  sin  upon 
them,  not  one  smallest  speck.  There  may  be  still  in 
moments  of  weakness  and  failure  sin  in  their  con¬ 
duct,  but  there  is  not  one  smallest  sin  upon  them  in 
God’s  reckoning,  it  has  all  been  settled,  atoned  for 
and  washed  away  forever  by  the  atoning  blood  of 
Christ,  shed  on  Calvary’s  accursed  tree.  It  is  not 
the  blood  of  the  crucified  Jesus,  but  the  indwelling 
life  of  the  risen  Jesus  that  saves  from  the  power  of 
sin,  and  it  will  be  the  completely  transforming 
power  of  the  returning  Lord  Jesus,  Who  will  make 


THE  BLOOD  OF  JESUS  CHRIST  147 


us  just  like  Himself  when  He  comes  again  (I  John 
3:1,  2,  that  will  save  us  from  the  very  presence  of 
sin.  But  to-night,  right  now,  any  man,  woman  or 
child,  no  matter  how  long  you  may  have  continued 
in  sin  or  how  deeply  you  may  have  gone  into  sin, 
can  be  cleansed  from  every  trace  of  guilt  and  become 
as  absolutely  sinless  in  God’s  reckoning  as  Jesus 
Christ  Himself  is,  you  can  become 

Near,  so  very  near  to  God, 

Nearer  I  cannot  be; 

For  in  the  person  of  His  Son, 

I’m  just  as  near  as  He. 

Dear,  so  very  dear  to  God, 

Dearer  I  cannot  be; 

For  in  the  person  of  His  Son, 

I  am  just  as  dear  as  He. 

III.  Who  Is  It  That  the  Blood  of  Jesus 

Cleanses  From  All  Sin? 

Now  there  is  just  one  more  question,  and  it  is 
one  of  great  practical  importance  for  us  to  answer, 
or  rather  for  us  to  get  God’s  answer  to,  and  that  is, 
Who  is  it  that  the  blood  of  Jesus  cleanses  from  all 
sin?  The  text  answers  this  question  also.  Listen. 
“If  we  walk  in  the  light,  as  He  is  in  the  light,  we 
have  fellowship  one  with  another,  and  the  blood  of 
Jesus,  His  Son,  cleanseth  us  from  all  sin.” 

1.  First,  please  notice  the  word  “us”  “cleanseth 
us  from  all  sin.”  Who  are  meant  by  the  “us”? 
God  Himself  answers  the  question  in  the  fifth  chap¬ 
ter  and  the  thirteenth  verse  of  this  same  book: 
“  These  things  have  I  written  unto  you,  .  .  .  even 
unto  you  that  believe  on  the  name  of  the  Son  of 
God.”  The  “  us  ”  then  are  those  who  “  believe  on 


148 


HOW  TO  BE  SAVED 


the  name  of  the  Son  of  God.”  But  what  does  it 
mean  to  “  believe  on  the  name  of  the  Son  of  God  ”  ? 
Again  we  are  not  left  to  our  own  speculations  and 
guesses  but  God  Himself  answers  this  question  in 
John  i :  12,  “As  many  as  received  him  to  them  gave 
he  the  right  to  become  children  of  God,  even  to 
them  that  believe  on  his  name  ”  It  is  then  those  who 
receive  Jesus  who  “believe  on  the  name  of  the  Son 
of  God,”  i.  e.,  those  who  take  Him  to  be  to  them¬ 
selves  what  He  offers  Himself  to  be  to  everyone  and 
anyone,  take  Him  to  themselves  to  be  their  personal 
Saviour  by  having  borne  their  sins  in  His  own  body 
on  the  cross,  and  trust  God  to  forgive  them  because 
Jesus  died  in  their  place,  take  Him  to  themselves  as 
their  Lord  and  King  to  whom  they  surrender  the 
entire  control  of  their  thoughts  and  lives.  Anyone 
who  thus  takes  or  receives  Jesus,  believes  on  Him  as 
the  Son  of  God,  and  the  blood  of  Jesus  cleanses  them 
from  all  sin. 

2.  In  the  second  place,  notice  just  zvhat  is  said 
in  the  verse  which  we  have  taken  for  our  text,  “  If 
we  walk  in  the  light,  as  He  is  in  the  light,  we  have 
fellowship  one  with  another,  and  the  blood  of  Jesus 
His  Son  cleanseth  us  from  all  sin.”  What  does  it 
mean  to  “walk  in  the  light”?  The  truth  is  light, 
error  is  darkness.  The  truth  revealed  in  this  book 
is  light,  God  is  light  (verse  5),  Jesus  Himself  is  the 
Light  of  the  World  (John  8:12).  To  walk  in  the 
light  is  therefore  to  walk  in  obedience  to  the  truth, 
to  walk  as  He  whom  we  have  accepted  as  our  Lord 
and  Master  and  risen  Saviour  bids  us  walk  and  em¬ 
powers  us  to  walk,  to  walk  in  the  light  is  to  walk 
in  open  confession  of  Christ,  in  obedience  to  His 


THE  BLOOD  OF  JESUS  CHRIST  149 


will  as  He  reveals  it  in  His  Word,  to  walk  just  as 
everyone  who  really  believes  on  His  name  (and  not 
merely  professes  to  believe  on  His  name)  will 
walk. 

If  anyone  here  to-night,  no  matter  what  you  have 
been  in  the  past,  even  though  you  have  been  the 
vilest  moral  leper,  or  thug,  or  gunman,  or  the  most 
outrageous  infidel  or  blasphemer,  or  anything  else,  if 
any  man,  woman  or  child  of  you  will  right  here  and 
now  accept  Jesus  Christ  as  your  personal  Saviour, 
as  the  One  Who  bore  all  your  sins  in  His  own  body 
on  the  cross,  and  trust  God  to  forgive  you  because 
Jesus  died  in  your  place,  and  if  you  will  surrender 
to  Him  as  your  Lord  and  King  and  confess  Him  as 
such  to-night,  and  go  out  of  here  to  prove  the  reality 
of  your  faith  by  walking  in  the  light  (walking  as  He 
bids  you  walk)  as  you  certainly  will  walk  if  you  really 
accept  Him  as  your  crucified  and  risen  Saviour,  the 
instant  you  do  this  the  blood  of  Jesus,  not  your  re¬ 
pentance  nor  your  good  conduct,  nor  even  your  faith, 
but  “the  blood  of  Jesus”  will  cleanse  you  from  all 
sin  and  keep  cleansing  you  to  all  eternity.  But  if 
you  do  not  thus  accept  Jesus  the  Christ  as  your  per¬ 
sonal  Saviour  and  surrender  to  Him  as  your  Lord 
and  King,  and  confess  Him  as  such,  you  will  go  out 
of  here  to-night  utterly  defiled  by  the  guilt  of  your 
awful  sins,  far  more  awful  in  the  sight  of  a  holy 
God  than  you  think,  and  to  be  defiled  and  dishon¬ 
oured  and  accursed  by  the  guilt  of  these  sins  forever 
and  ever. 

Will  you  accept  Him  now? 


X 


PATHS  TO  PERDITION 

“Enter  ye  in  at  the  strait  gate:  for  wide  is  the 
gate,  and  broad  is  the  way,  that  leadeth  to  destruc¬ 
tion,  and  many  there  be  which  go  in  thereat:  because 
strait  is  the  gate,  and  narrow  is  the  way,  that 
leadeth  unto  life,  and  few  there  be  that  find  it” — 
Matthew  7:13,  14. 

THERE  are  juist  two  classes  of  people  in  this 
audience,  those  who  are  in  the  narrow  road 
that  leadeth  to  life,  and  those  who  are  in 
some  one  of  the  many  paths  that  make  up  the  one 
broad  road  that  leadeth  to  perdition,  “  eternal  perdi¬ 
tion”  Some  people  say  “  let  us  go  with  the  crowd.” 
Well,  if  you  go  with  the  crowd  you  will  go  to  hell. 
Listen  again  to  the  words  of  Jesus  Christ,  “  Enter 
ye  in  at  the  strait  gate:  for  wide  is  the  gate,  and 
broad  is  the  way,  that  leadeth  to  destruction,  and 
many  there  be  which  go  in  thereat:  because  strait 
is  the  gate,  and  narrow  is  the  way,  that  leadeth  unto 
life,  and  few  there  be  that  find  it”  (Matt.  7:  13,  14). 

A  fool  tries  to  avoid  danger  by  shutting  his  eyes 
to  it.  That  is  the  method  by  which  modern  Uni- 
versalists  and  modern  infidels  try  to  escape  hell,  by 
shutting  their  eyes  to  it  or  by  denying  its  existence. 
A  wise  man  avoids  danger  by  opening  his  eyes  wide 
to  it  and  getting  out  of  the  paths  that  lead  to  it. 

150 


PATHS  TO  PERDITION 


151 


That  is  the  method  I  shall  advocate  from  this  plat¬ 
form  to-night.  I  am  sometimes  said  to  be  “  a  man 
without  mercy,”  or  “  a  man  without  a  sweet  and 
forgiving  nature,”  because  I  tell  you  plainly  your 
peril.  Friends,  I  do  not  want  around  me  any  of 
those  wonderfully  merciful  people  who  reveal  their 
“  sweet  and  forgiving  nature  ”  by  throwing  sand 
into  my  eyes  and  trying  to  make  me  think  I  am  safe 
when  I  am  in  grave  and  imminent  peril.  The  man 
who  points  out  my  sins  and  my  peril  is  my  best 
friend  and  my  kindest  friend.  The  man  who  flat¬ 
ters  and  deceives  me  is  my  worst  foe  and  my 
cruellest  foe.  Delilah  coddled  Samson  while  she 
bound  him  for  his  foes.  That  is  what  these  so-called 
“  liberal  minded  preachers  ”  are  doing.  God  forbid 
that  for  the  sake  of  popularity  I  should  join  them  in 
their  damnable  work  of  destroying  unwary  souls. 

I  shall  therefore  point  out  to  you  to-night  with 
great  plainness  of  speech  some  of  the  paths  that  lead 
to  perdition,  in  the  hope  that  at  least  some  of  you 
who  are  walking  in  these  paths  will  get  out  of  them 
before  you  leave  this  building. 

I.  Suicide 

The  shortest  path  to  perdition,  the  straightest  and 
quickest  road  there,  is  suicide.  This  is  the  road  that 
Judas  Iscariot  took  and  the  Bible  tells  us  that  he 
went  “to  his  own  place”  (Acts  1:25).  If  anyone 
wants  to  be  in  perdition  in  a  few  hours  let  him  take 
an  overdose  of  morphine  or  bichloride  of  mercury, 
if  he  wants  to  be  there  in  a  few  minutes  let  him 
take  carbolic  acid,  if  he  wants  to  be  there  in  a  second 
let  him  blow  his  brains  out.  There  is  absolutely  no 


152 


HOW  TO  BE  SAVED 


hope  hereafter  for  a  suicide,  unless  he  is  insane  and 
therefore  irresponsible  for  his  foolish  and  wicked 
act.  I  do  not  know  how  many  men  and  women 
have  told  me  that  they  intended  committing  suicide. 
To  every  such  an  one  I  have  said,  “  You  will  go  to 
hell  if  you  do.”  I  have  not  a  doubt  that  my  words 
were  true.  To  anyone  in  this  audience  to-night  who 
is  being  swept  away  by  the  epidemic  of  suicide  that 
is  engulfing  us,  and  who  is  contemplating  “  solving 
the  mystery  of  eternity  ”  in  that  way,  I  wish  to  say 
to-night,  that  that  is  the  shortest  and  swiftest  road 
to  hell  known  to  man,  and  there  is  no  getting  out  of 
hell  after  you  once  get  in.  A  man  once  came  to 
me  in  Chicago  in  great  mental  anguish.  He  told  me 
that  it  Seemed  as  if  he  must  end  his  life.  I  told  him 
plainly  what  would  be  the  certain  consequence  if  he 
did,  and  then  pointed  out  to  him  a  better  way,  the 
way  of  faith  in  Jesus  Christ.  A  short  time  after¬ 
ward  I  met  that  man  again.  His  countenance  was 
radiant.  He  had  found  rest  in  Jesus  Christ. 

II.  Impurity 

Impurity  is  sweeping  more  men  and  women  and 
boys  and  girls  into  perdition  in  this  city  than  any 
other  sin.  Intemperance  claims  but  a  small  fraction 
of  as  many  victims  as  impurity.  The  spread  of  im¬ 
purity  in  our  land,  because  of  the  war  and  because 
of  the  movies  and  because  of  the  breaking  down  of 
parental  restraint  at  home,  and  of  sound  moral 
teaching  and  discipline  in  our  schools,  and  because 
of  the  general  outbreak  of  lawlessness  in  all  depart¬ 
ments  of  our  modern  life,  and  especially  because  of 
the  sowing  of  the  seeds  of  infidelity  in  schools,  col- 


PATHS  TO  PERDITION 


153 


leges,  and  even  in  Sunday  Schools  and  churches  and 
everywhere  else,  is  simply  appalling.  The  things  I 
have  personally  known  about  the  impurity  in  young 
and  old,  and  in  all  classes  of  society,  have  made  my 
heart  sick  and  faint.  I  know  some  things  about 
many  of  you  in  this  audience  to-night  that  you  do 
not  think  I  know.  Some  I  know  by  your  very  looks, 
you  bear  the  marks  of  your  sin  in  your  eyes,  in  your 
faces,  in  your  gait  and  in  your  manner.  Some  things 
I  know  by  direct  testimony.  Much  of  our  Los  An¬ 
geles  life  is  festering  with  the  sin  of  Sodom.  Sins 
of  impurity  in  their  various  forms  are  a  swift  and 
sure  road  to  perdition.  Impurity  leads  to  perdition 
in  many  ways: 

i.  First  of  all,  Impurity  breeds  unbelief  in  God, 
and  in  Christ  and  in  the  Bible.  I  have  found  by 
personal  investigation  that  very  much  of  the  unbe¬ 
lief  of  our  day  has  its  origin  in  impurity  of  life. 
Let  me  give  you  an  illustrative  example.  A  young 
student  came  to  me  and  said  that  he  was  sceptical. 
I  asked,  “  Why  are  you  sceptical  ?  ”  He  replied  that 
he  had  been  reading  philosophy  and  the  study  of 
philosophy  had  made  him  sceptical.  Then  I  said, 
“  Is  your  life  right?”  He  hesitated.  I  followed  it 
up,  “  Are  you  not  living  in  sin  ?  ”,  and  I  named  the 
sin  I  had  in  mind.  He  made  a  clean  breast  of  it. 
He  was.  I  told  him  to  quit  his  sin  and  then  do  cer¬ 
tain  other  things  and  he  would  find  his  scepticism 
would  take  to  itself  wings  and  fly  away.  He  prom¬ 
ised  to  do  it.  Some  months  passed.  This  young 
man  came  to  me  again  and  I  said  to  him,  “  Where 
do  you  stand  now?”  “Just  where  I  did,”  he  re¬ 
plied.  I  asked,  “  Why  have  you  not  gotten  over 


154 


HOW  TO  BE  SAVED 


your  scepticism?”  “I  do  not  know,”  he  said. 
“  Have  you  given  up  your  sin  as  you  promised  to 
do?”  He  dropped  his  head  and  answered,  “No.” 
“  Well,”  I  said,  “  give  up  your  sin  and  you  will  get 
rid  of  your  scepticism.  That’s  your  trouble.”  He 
dropped  his  head  lower  and  said,  “  I  guess  it  is.” 
Yes  it  was,  and  it  is  the  trouble  with  a  good  many 
of  you  men  and  women  here  to-night  who  flatter 
yourselves  your  trouble  is  scepticism.  No,  with 
many  of  you  the  real  trouble  is  not  scepticism,  it  is 
simply  disgusting  impurity  of  life.  I  say  that  in  all 
kindness  and  for  your  own  good.  If  I  have  hit  you, 
do  not  get  angry  at  me;  for  I  am  your  friend.  Get 
angry  at  yourself,  for  you  are  your  own  worst 
enemy.  Get  angry  at  yourself  and  quit  your  sin. 

Professor  W.  W.  White  was  once  lecturing  in 
Chicago  on  infidelity.  A  fine-looking,  gray-haired 
man,  a  man  with  a  bright  mind,  came  up  at  the  close 
of  his  lecture  and  said  something  like  this,  “You  are 
a  Christian  and  I  am  an  infidel.  I  am  just  as  sin¬ 
cere  as  you  are,  and  you  have  no  right  to  tell  me 
I  am  not.”  “Is  your  life  pure?”,  Professor  White 
inquired  in  reply.  “Just  as  pure  as  yours,”  the  man 
replied.  “Have  you  any  objection  to  giving  me 
your  name?”,  Professor  White  inquired,  “I  want  to 
look  up  your  record.”  The  man  began  to  edge  away 
and  refused,  saying  that  his  name  was  none  of  Pro¬ 
fessor  White’s  business.  But  Professor  White  se¬ 
cured  his  name  from  some  one  in  the  crowd ;  for 
he  was  one  of  the  best  known  infidels  in  Chicago, 
indeed  one  of  the  best  known  infidels  in  America. 
In  less  than  a  year  this  gifted  infidel  was  found  dead 
in  a  Boston  hotel  side  by  side  with  a  brilliant  young 


PATHS  TO  PERDITION 


155 


woman  (not  his  wife),  whom  he  had  led  astray, 
first  into  infidelity  and  then  into  adultery.  Impurity 
makes  more  infidels  than  all  the  infidel  books  that 
were  ever  written.  Mind  you,  I  do  not  say  all  scep¬ 
tics  and  infidels  are  impure.  God  forbid!  But  I  do 
say  that  impurity  makes  many  infidels.  Now  you 
know  whether  you  are  impure  or  not.  If  you  are, 
and  are  also  an  infidel  or  sceptic,  give  up  your  sin 
and  see  how  quickly  you  get  rid  of  your  soul- 
destroying  infidelity. 

2.  But  impurity  sends  men  and  women  to  perdi¬ 
tion  in  still  another  way.  It  entangles  people  in  re¬ 
lations  that  it  is  hard  to  get  out  of,  and  that  one 
cannot  remain  in  and  he  saved.  How  many  a  poor, 
blinded  fool  of  a  man  has  become  infatuated  with 
some  other  man’s  wife  and  run  away  with  her,  and 
then  waked  up  some  day  to  see  that  both  he  and  she 
were  in  hell  now  and  on  the  way  to  an  eternal  hell 
hereafter.  But  what  could  he  do?  The  man  who 
trifles  with  another  man’s  wife  (or  trifles  with  an¬ 
other  woman  while  he  has  a  wife  of  his  own)  is 
not  only  one  of  the  vilest,  most  scoundrelly,  most 
contemptible,  and  abject  sneaks  and  villains  that 
walk  the  face  of  God’s  earth,  but  he  is  also  one  of 
the  most  arrant  fools. 

I  dealt  personally  one  night  with  a  bright,  intel¬ 
ligent  young  man.  He  was  under  deep  conviction 
of  sin.  He  told  me  he  wanted  to  come  to  Christ. 
“Well  then  why  don’t  you  come?”  I  asked.  No  an¬ 
swer.  Then  I  looked  steadily  at  him  and  his  story 
lay  revealed.  “Is  there  a  woman  in  the  case?”  I 
asked.  “Yes.”  “Will  you  give  her  up?”  There 
was  an  awful  struggle,  a  long  struggle,  but  finally 


156 


HOW  TO  BE  SAVED 


he  shook  his  head  and  walked  out  to  his  companion 
in  sin  and  to  hell. 

Hell  will  be  crowded  with  adulterers  and  adulter¬ 
esses.  Hell  will  be  more  full  of  adulterers  and  adul¬ 
teresses  than  Reno,  Nevada.  Some  of  you  men 
here  to-night  may  well  tremble.  I  am  not  going  to 
point  you  out,  but  God  knows  you.  Oh !  I  appeal 
to  every  man  and  woman  here  to-night  who  is  tak¬ 
ing  their  first  steps  in  the  path  of  impurity;  yes,  to 
you  who  have  gotten  further  on  in  that  road ;  yes, 
to  you  who  are  way  down  that  road :  Repent,  Re¬ 
pent,  Repent,  and  believe  in  Jesus  Christ  to-night. 
If  you  do,  this  will  be  the  happiest  night  you 
ever  saw. 

III.  The  Love  of  Money 

The  next  path  to  perdition  is,  the  love  of  money. 
God  says  in  I  Tim.  6:9,  “They  that  desire  to  be 
rich  fall  into  a  temptation  and  a  snare,  and  many 
foolish  and  hurtful  lusts,  such  as  drown  men  in  de¬ 
struction  and  perdition How  many  there  are  in 
Los  Angeles  who  are  taking  this  road  to  hell.  Go 
out  any  of  our  finest  avenues,  how  many  saved  men 
are  there  upon  it?  Very  few.  Why?  Their  money 
keeps  them  from  Christ. 

But  the  rich  are  not  the  only  ones  “  who  desire 
to  be  rich.”  Many  people  in  very  moderate  circum¬ 
stances  are  as  eager  to  be  rich  as  the  multi-million¬ 
aire,  only  they  have  not  been  so  successful  in  acquir¬ 
ing  wealth.  The  love  of  money  sends  men  to  perdi¬ 
tion  in  a  variety  of  ways: 

1.  In  the  first  place,  The  love  of  money  leads  to 
dishonest  methods  of  acquiring  money.  A  great 


PATHS  TO  PERDITION 


157 


many  business  methods  of  the  present  day  are  simply 
legalized  robbery.  There  are  a  great  many  rich  men 
who  if  they  were  genuinely  converted  would  have  to 
pay  back  most  of  their  money  to  the  persons  from 
whom  they  have  stolen  it.  Some  try  to  get  around 
this  by  giving  away  a  part  of  their  stealings  to 
churches,  to  colleges,  to  hospitals,  to  public  libraries, 
to  various  Christian  organizations,  .and  to  the  poor. 
This  may  soothe  their  own  consciences,  but  it  will 
not  satisfy  God  and  it  will  not  keep  them  out  of 
hell. 

2.  Again,  the  consuming  love  for  money  blinds 
many  men  to  the  fact  that  there  is  anything  worth 
striving  for  bat  money;  so  they  leave  their  souls  and 
their  eternal  interests  utterly  neglected.  The  average 
lover  of  money  is  seldom  seen  inside  a  church. 
There  is  a  great  deal  more  hope  of  awakening  a  man 
besotted  with  whiskey  to  the  fact  that  he  has  a  soul 
to  save  than  there  is  of  awakening  to  that  fact  a  man 
besotted  with  the  love  of  money.  I  would  a  great 
deal  rather  undertake  the  job  of  bringing  a  rum- 
soaked  man  to  Christ  than  of  bringing  a  money- 
soaked  man  to  Christ. 

3.  Then  again,  many  who  love  money  when  they 
are  awakened  to  the  fact  that  they  have  a  soul  and 
that  it  is  lost,  will  not  come  to  Christ  for  fear  they 
will  have  to  give  their  money  up,  if  they  do.  A  man 
once  came  to  Dr.  McArthur  of  New  York  and  said, 
“  Dr.  McArthur,  must  I  give  up  my  money  if  I  be¬ 
come  a  Christian?”  Dr.  McArthur  replied  wisely, 
saying,  “  If  you  become  a  Christian  and  Jesus  Christ 
tells  you  to  give  up  your  money  you  must  be  ready 
to  give  it  up,  every  penny  of  it,  if  Jesus  Christ  tells 


158 


HOW  TO  BE  SAVED 


you  to.”  The  man  answered,  “  I  will  take  a  week 
to  think  about  it.”  At  the  end  of  the  week  he  came 
back  and  said,  “  Dr.  McArthur,  I  have  settled  it.  I 
will  hold  on  to  my  money  till  death,  and  if  Christ 
and  Heaven  must  go,  they  must  go.”  You  may  say 
that  man  was  a  great  fool.  I  grant  it;  but  there  are 
many  others  like  him,  some  of  them  right  here  in 
this  audience  to-night. 

IV.  Love  of  Pleasure 

Love  of  pleasure  is  another  path  to  perdition. 
Many  people  in  this  audience  to-night  are  rejecting 
Christ  Jesus  because  they  think  that  an  acceptance 
of  Christ  would  involve  their  giving  up  many  pleas¬ 
ures  of  which  they  are  extremely  fond,  and  very 
likely  it  would.  Many  young  people  are  saying,  “  I 
don’t  think  a  person  can  be  a  real  Christian  and 
dance  or  go  to  the  theatre  or  to  the  movies  or  play 
cards.”  Well,  I  admit  I  think  there  is  a  good  deal 
of  truth  in  what  they  say.  “  Well,  then,”  they  say, 
“  I  will  hold  on  to  my  dancing,  or  theatre,  or  movies 
(or  whatever  it  may  be),  and  let  Jesus  Christ  go.” 
They  would  rather  dance  to  hell  than  walk  with  a 
glad,  Spirit-filled  heart  to  Heaven.  Alas,  poor 
fools ! 

When  I  "was  holding  meetings  in  Nashville,  Ten¬ 
nessee,  there  were  four  ladies’  colleges  in  that  city, 
and  a  great  many  of  the  students  came  to  the  meet¬ 
ings.  I  think  all  but  three  of  the  young  women  who 
were  not  already  Christians  in  one  of  the  colleges 
accepted  Christ  at  those  meetings,  and  all  but  two  in 
another,  and  I  think  every  one  in  another.  A  large 
section  of  the  Reimer  Auditorium  was  reserved  for 


PATHS  TO  PERDITION 


159 


them  each  night.  One  night  one  of  the  colleges  had 
a  very  large  group  of  students  present  in  a  body  in 
one  of  the  galleries,  to  the  left  of  the  platform. 
When  I  gave  out  the  invitation,  a  very  large  number 
of  those  young  women  rose  and  afterwards  made  a 
public  confession  of  their  acceptance  of  Christ.  But 
one  prominent  young  woman,  one  of  the  great  social 
leaders  of  the  college,  said  after  she  got  back  to  the 
college,  “  If  I  can’t  escape  hell  without  giving  up 
my  dancing,  then  I  choose  to  go  to  hell.”  It  was  an 
awful  thing  to  say  and  you  never  put  it  as  bluntly 
as  that,  but  some  of  you  are  acting  on  that  principle. 
I  am  glad  to  say  that  within  a  short  time  that  young 
woman  changed  her  mind,  and  accepted  Christ,  and 
became  one  of  the  great  leaders  in  the  work.  I  hope 
that  some  of  you  to-night  will  be  equally  sensible 
and  change  your  minds. 

V.  Infidelity 

Infidelity  is  another  path  to  perdition.  There  is 
no  hope  for  the  infidel  unless  he  gives  up  his  infidel¬ 
ity.  God  tells  us  plainly  in  II  Thess.  1 : 7-9,  that 
“  The  Lord  Jesus  shall  be  revealed  from  Heaven 
with  the  angels  of  his  power  in  flaming  fire,  render¬ 
ing  vengeance  to  them  that  know  not  God  and  to 
them  that  obey  not  the  Gospel  of  our  Lord  Jesus: 
who  shall  suffer  punishment,  even  eternal  destruc¬ 
tion,  from  the  face  of  the  Lord  and  from  the  glory 
of  his  might.”  And  the  Lord  Jesus  Himself  says, 
in  Mark  16:15,  16,  “Go  ye  into  all  the  world,  and 
preach  the  gospel  to  the  whole  creation.  He  that 
believeth  and  is  baptized  shall  be  saved;  but  he  that 
disbelieveth  shall  be  condemned.”  And  we  read 


160 


HOW  TO  BE  SAVED 


again  in  Jno.  3 : 36,  “  He  that  believeth  on  the  Son 
hath  everlasting  life:  and  he  that  believeth  not  the 
Son  shall  not  see  life;  but  the  wrath  of  God  abideth 
on  him.”  There  is  not  the  slightest  chance  for  an 
infidel.  But  you  say,  “  I  cannot  help  being  an  in¬ 
fidel.”  Yes  you  can.  If  you  will  come  to  me,  I 
will  show  you  how  to  help  it.  If  you  are  really  in 
earnest,  I  will  show  you  a  way,  a  way  that  will  com¬ 
mend  itself  to  your  own  reason  and  conscience,  out 
of  infidelity  into  faith.  I  have  shown  it  to  many 
infidels  and  it  has  never  failed  yet. 

One  of  the  passages  I  just  quoted,  II  Thess. 

1 : 7-9,  tells  us  that  it  is  not  only  the  agnostic  and 
infidel  who  is  on  the  road  to  perdition,  but  also,  that 
all  that  obey  not  the  gospel  of  our  Lord  Jesus: 

.  .  .  shall  suffer  punishment,  even  eternal  de¬ 

struction  from  the  face  of  the  Lord  and  from  the 
glory  of  his  might.”  There  are  many  who  in  their 
intellectual  opinion  about  God  and  the  Bible  and 
Jesus  Christ  are  perfectly  sound,  but  who  still  are 
“  unbelievers  ”  in  the  Bible  sense  of  “  unbelief,”  and 
every  form  of  unbelief  is  a  path  to  perdition.  They 
do  not  u  obey  the  gospel  of  our  Lord  Jesus,”  and 
therefore  by  the  plain  declaration  of  God’s  Word 
are  on  the  road  to  “  everlasting  destruction.”  What 
does  it  mean  to  “  obey  the  gospel  of  our  Lord 
Jesus  ”?  The  Greek  word  translated  “  obey  ”  in  this 
passage  means  first  of  all  “  to  listen  ”  or  “  to 
hearken,”  and  then  it  means  to  do  what  is  the  re¬ 
sult  of  really  listening  to  a  command,  to  “  obey  it.” 
So  to  “  obey  the  gospel  of  our  Lord  Jesus  Christ,” 
means  to  listen  to  the  gospel,  believe  what  it  says  and 
do  what  it  commands.  What  does  the  gospel  say? 


PATHS  TO  PERDITION 


161 


Paul  tells  us  in  I  Cor.  15:1-4.  He  says,  “Now  I 
make  known  unto  you,  brethren,  the  gospel  which  I 
have  preached  unto  you.  .  .  .  For  I  delivered 

unto  you  first  of  all  that  which  I  also  received ;  that 
Christ  died  for  our  sins  according  to  the  Scriptures ; 
and  that  he  was  buried;  and  that  he  hath  been  raised 
up  the  third  day  according  to  the  Scriptures  ”  That 
then  is  “the  gospel  ”  (or,  good  news).  The  gospel 
says:  first,  that  “Jesus  Christ  died  for  our  sins,” 
believe  that,  believe  that  Jesus  Christ  died  for  your 
sins;  and  trust  God  to  forgive  you  because  Jesus 
Christ  died  in  your  place.  The  gospel  says :  second, 
that  “  Jesus  Christ  was  raised  from  the  dead,”  be¬ 
lieve  that ;  and  trust  this  risen  Saviour,  Who  has  all 
power  in  Heaven  and  on  earth,  to  deliver  you  from 
the  power  of  sin.  So  much  as  to  what  to  believe. 
Then  do  what  the  gospel  tells  you  to  do,  confess 
Jesus  Christ  before  the  world.  As  this  same  Paul 
puts  it  in  Rom.  10:9,  10,  “If  thou  shalt  confess 
with  thy  mouth  Jesus  as  Lord,  and  shalt  believe  in 
thy  heart  that  God  raised  him  from  the  dead,  thou 
shalt  be  saved:  for  with  the  heart  man  believeth 
unto  righteousness ;  and  with  the  mouth  confession 
is  made  unto  salvation and  also  confess  your  renun¬ 
ciation  of  <sin  and  your  acceptance  of  Christ  as  your 
personal  Saviour,  by  being  baptized  in  His  name. 
The  refusal  or  neglect  to  obey  the  gospel,  by 

NOT  BELIEVING  WHAT  IT  SAYS  AND  BY  NOT  DOING 
WHAT  IT  COMMANDS,  LEADS  TO  CERTAIN  PERDITION. 

This  same  thought  is  found  in  another  of  the  pas¬ 
sages  just  quoted,  Jno.  3:36,  “He  that  believeth  on 
the  Son  hath  everlasting  life:  and  he  that  believeth 


162 


HOW  TO  BE  SAVED 


not  the  Son  shall  not  see  life :  but  the  wrath  of  God 
abideth  on  him.” 

IV.  Reliance  Upon  a  Mere  Profession  of 

Religion 

Another  path  to  perdition  is,  reliance  upon  a  mere 
profession  of  religion .  Jesus  Christ  Himself  makes 
that  very  plain  in  the  very  chapter  from  which  our 
text  is  taken.  In  verses  twenty-one  to  twenty-three, 
He  says,  “  Not  everyone  that  saith  unto  me,  Lord, 
Lord,  shall  enter  into  the  kingdom  of  Heaven;  but 
he  that  doeth  the  will  of  my  father  which  is  in 
Heaven.  Many  will  say  to  me  in  that  day,  Lord, 
Lord,  did  we  not  prophesy  by  thy  name,  and  by  thy 
name  cast  out  demons,  and  by  thy  name  do  many 
wonderful  works?  And  then  will  I  profess  unto 
them,  I  never  knew  you :  depart  from  me,  ye  that 
work  iniquity”  (Matt.  7:21-23). 

A  man  may  be  a  church  member  and  still  be  on 
the  straight  road  to  hell.  A  man  may  have  his 
name  on  the  church  rolls  (either  Protestant  or 
Roman  Catholic),  he  may  be  a  church  officer,  he 
may  be  very  active  in  various  church  enterprises, 
he  may  be  a  priest  or  a  preacher;  but,  if  he  has  not 
been  born  again,  if  he  has  not  obeyed  the  gospel, 
if  he  has  not  accepted  Christ  Jesus  as  his  personal 
Saviour  and  Lord  in  such  a  real  way  that  Christ  is 
transforming  him  into  His  own  image,  that  man  is 
still  unsaved  and  is  on  the  road  to  perdition  and  will 
spend  eternity  there,  unless  he  repents  and  accepts 
Jesus  Christ  with  a  living  faith.  Oh,  you  men  and 
women  who  are  building  your  hopes  of  Heaven  on 
the  fact  that  you  are  members  of  the  Roman  Cath- 


PATHS  TO  PERDITION 


163 


olic  church,  or  members  of  the  Methodist  church, 
or  the  Episcopal  or  the  Baptist  or  the  Presbyterian 
church,  or  the  Church  of  the  Open  Door,  or  any 
other  church,  if  that  is  all  you  have  to  build  upon, 
you  are  in  a  path  that  ends  in  hell,  and  you  may  not 
be  very  far  from  your  destination. 

VII.  Putting  Off  Your  Acceptance  of  Jesus 

Christ 

Just  one  more  path  that  leads  to  perdition ,  that  is, 
putting  off  your  acceptance  of  Jesus  Christ  to  some 
future  time.  There  are  many  of  you  who  know  that 
the  path  you  are  now  in  leads  to  perdition  and  you 
fully  intend  to  get  out  of  that  path  some  time;  but 
you  6ay,  “  Not  just  yet,  not  to-night.”  My  friend, 
that  path  of  delay  is  one  of  the  surest  roads  to  hell 
and  one  of  the  most  crowded.  More  people  go  to  hell 
by  that  road  than  by  almost  any  other.  I  suppose 
that  more  people  who  have  sat  in  days  gone  by  in 
this  building  but  who  are  in  perdition  to-night  have 
gone  by  this  path  of  putting  off,  putting  off,  putting 
off  a  decision,  than  by  any  other  road.  If  we  were 
to  go  into  the  world  of  those  who  have  died  without 
Christ,  and  ask  the  people  who  once  lived  in  this 
city  how  they  got  to  that  dark  world  where  they 
now  exist,  I  suppose  the  great  majority  would  say, 
“  I  got  here  by  putting  off  accepting  Jesus  Christ.” 
That  is  what  many  of  you  are  doing  to-night.  You 
are  saying,  “  I  will  accept  Christ  some  time,  but  not 
to-night.”  Listen  to  what  God  says,  “  Boast  not 
thyself  of  to-morrow;  for  thou  knowest  not  what  a 
day  may  bring  forth”  (Frov.  27:1),  and  again, 
“  He  that  being  often  reproved  hardeneth  his  neck, 


164 


HOW  TO  BE  SAVED 


shall  suddenly  be  destroyed,  and  that  without 
remedy  ”  (Prov.  29:1). 

An  active  Christian  young  man  some  years  ago 
was  urging  a  friend  to  accept  Christ.  “  Oh,  no,” 
he  said,  “  I  like  to  go  to  the  theatre,  I  love  to  hear 
Nat  Goodwin  and  some  other  players.  I  won’t  be 
a  Christian  yet.”  The  young  man  urged  him  to  de¬ 
cide  for  Christ  at  once,  and  told  his  friend  that  there 
was  great  peril  in  delay.  In  a  few  days  the  man 
who  refused  to  accept  Christ  at  once  was  not  at 
his  place  of  business,  and  the  Christian  young  man 
called  on  him.  There  seemed  to  be  nothing  very 
serious  the  matter  with  him.  He  had  injured  his 
leg  slightly.  And  still  he  put  off  accepting  Christ. 
In  a  few  days  the  Christian  young  man  was  horrified 
to  learn  that  his  friend  was  dead.  Delay  had  done 
its  work.  Delay  had  sent  another  soul  to  perdition. 
“  Oh,”  you  say,  “  Dr.  Torrey,  don’t  try  to  frighten 
us.”  Listen,  I  would  far  rather  be  frightened  into 
Heaven  than  laughed  into  hell. 

Let  me  reason  with  you,  let  me  talk  to  you  as  in¬ 
telligent  men  and  women :  Quit  right  now  all 
these  paths  that  lead  to  perdition  and  get 

INTO  THE  NARROW  ROAD  THAT  LEADS  TO  ETERNAL 

life,  right  now.  Take  Jesus  Christ  to-night.  He 
says,  and  He  tells  the  truth  when  He  says  it,  “  I  am 
the  way,  the  truth,  and  the  life :  no  one  cometh  unto 
the  Father ,  hut  by  me.”  Jesus  Christ  is  the  road  and 
He  is  the  only  road  to  salvation  and  to  sonship  and 
to  eternal  life.  Will  you  take  that  road  to-night  by 
taking  Him  ? 


XI 


THERE  IS  A  HELL  AND  IF  YOU  DON’T 
LOOK  OUT  YOU  ARE  GOING  THERE 

“And  if  thy  right  eye  causeth  thee  to  stumble, 
pluck  it  out,  and  cast  it  from  thee;  for  it  is  profit¬ 
able  for  thee  that  one  of  thy  members  should  perish, 
and  not  thy  whole  body  be  cast  into  hell” — Mat¬ 
thew  5 :  29  R.  V. 

FOR  this  address  I  have  five  texts.  The  first 
is  quoted  above.  The  second  is  Matt.  10:28 
R.  V.,  “  Be  not  afraid  of  them  which  kill  the 
body,  but  are  not  able  to  kill  the  soul:  but  rather 
fear  him  who  is  able  to  destroy  both  soul  and  body 
in  hell”  The  third  is  Matt.  23 :  33  R.  V.,  “  Ye  ser¬ 
pents,  ye  offspring  of  vipers,  how  shall  ye  escape 
the  judgment  of  hell?”  The  fourth  is  Matt.  25:41 
R.  V.,  “  Depart  from  me,  ye  cursed,  into  the  eternal 
fire  which  is  prepared  for  the  devil  and  his  angels.” 
The  fifth  is  Matt.  25 : 46.  .  .  .  “  And  these  shall 
go  away  into  eternal  punishment:  but  the  righteous 
into  eternal  life.” 

A  very  large  proportion  of  the  men  and  women 
in  America  to-day  do  not  really  believe  that  there  is 
a  real  and  awful  hell.  Indeed  a  very  large  propor¬ 
tion  of  the  ministers  and  members  of  orthodox 
churches  to-day  do  not  really  believe  that  there  is  a 
real  and  awful  hell.  I  say  they  do  not  “really 

165 


166 


HOW  TO  BE  SAVED 


believe  ”  that  there  is  a  real  and  awful  hell.  Theo¬ 
retically  I  presume  the  vast  majority  of  ministers 
and  members  of  churches  do  believe  that  there  is  a 
hell.  That  is,  if  you  put  to  them  the  question,  “  Do 
you  believe  there  is  a  hell  to  which  the  wicked  are 
sent  after  death  (or  after  the  return  of  the  Lord 
Jesus),”  they  would  say  “yes.”  But  their  belief  is 
not  a  real  belief,  a  belief  that  grips  them,  a  belief 
that  shapes  their  lives  and  conduct,  a  belief  the 
meaning  of  which  they  realize  and  that  moves  them 
to  the  action  that  they  would  put  forth  if  they  really 
believed  it.  There  is  a  vast  difference  between  a 
mere  opinion  and  a  real  faith.  I  held  the  opinion 
that  there  was  a  hell  long  before  I  really  believed 
that  there  was  a  hell.  And  I  suppose  a  very  large 
proportion  of  those  who  are  not  professing  Chris¬ 
tians  hold  the  opinion  that  there  is  a  hell  of  some 
kind  in  the  next  world,  though  perhaps  not  an  ever¬ 
lasting  hell ;  but  their  opinion  is  not  a  real  faith.  It 
has  very  little  if  any  effect  upon  their  conduct.  This 
widespread  loss  of  belief  in  a  future  hell  of  long 
and  awful  sorrow,  pain,  anguish,  remorse,  and  de¬ 
spair,  is  responsible  for  very  much  of  the  terrible 
evils  that  are  sweeping  over  our  land  at  the  present 
time.  The  loss  of  belief  in  such  a  future  hell  is  re¬ 
sponsible  for  the  appalling  increase  of  suicide.  If 
men  and  women  believed  that  every  man  or  woman 
who  committed  suicide  (unless  they  were  insane  and 
therefore  irresponsible)  was  going  to  an  awful  hell, 
an  age-long  if  not  everlasting,  sorrow,  pain,  agony, 
anguish  and  despair,  suicide  would  cease,  instead  of 
increasing  at  the  appalling  rate  it  has  increased  the 
last  year.  However  great  their  sorrow  in  the  present 


THERE  IS  A  HELL 


167 


life  they  would  not  jump  from  a  lifelong  frying  pan 
into  an  “  everlasting  fire/’  Loss  of  real  belief  in  an 
awful  and  long,  long  hell  is  responsible  for  all  these 
infatuated  men  and  women  killing  the  woman  or 
man  they  love  who  does  not  reciprocate  that  love, 
and  then  killing  themselves.  If  these  men  and 
women  really  believed  that  such  an  act  meant  an 
eternity  in  hell,  not  one  of  them  would  do  it.  The 
loss  of  belief  in  an  awful,  eternal  hell  is  responsible 
for  every  hold-up,  burglary,  murder,  and  all  this 
frightful  crime  wave  that  is  sweeping  over  this  land 
from  New  York  to  Los  Angeles.  If  these  men  and 
women  who  are  unhesitatingly  staining  their  hands 
with  blood  to  get  money  by  open  or  covert  murder 
realized  that  their  action  meant  an  eternity  in  hell, 
the  crime  wave  would  subside  into  a  great  calm  of 
righteousness  in  a  day.  A  re-establishment  of  real 
faith  in  such  a  hell  as  the  Bible  and  Jesus  Christ 
plainly  teach  would  do  more  to  lift  our  land  out  of 
the  awful  chaos  of  crime  and  terror  into  which  it 
has  fallen  than  all  the  increase  and  improvement  of 
police  forces  that  can  be  devised,  and  all  the  enact¬ 
ment  of  more  severe  and  better  executed  laws  that 
can  be  imagined.  The  loss  of  man’s  faith  in  hell  is 
responsible  for  the  sickening  and  appalling  increase 
of  divorce,  of  legalized  adultery,  and  the  ruin  to 
homes  and  children  that  comes  through  it.  If  men 
and  women  who  seek  release  from  their  wives  and 
husbands  because  they  tire  of  them  or  because  of 
incompatibility  of  temperament,  or  because  they  have 
wickedly  permitted  their  affections  to  be  carried  cap¬ 
tive  by  someone  else  other  than  their  lawful  wife  or 
husband,  if  these  men  and  women  realized  that  their 


168 


HOW  TO  BE  SAVED 


violation  of  the  law  of  God  and  the  demands  of  de¬ 
cency  meant  an  eternity  in  hell  this  intolerable  evil 
would  cease  at  once.  One  of  the  greatest  needs  of 
our  day  is  a  restoration  of  real  faith  in  the  teaching 
of  Jesus  Christ  concerning  hell.  If  we  could  get 
men,  women  and  children  generally  to  believe  what 
Jesus  Christ  plainly  teaches  about  hell,  there  would 
be  a  general  cessation  of  crime,  vice,  divorce,  suicide, 
and  a  general  turning  of  men,  women  and  children 
to  Jesus  Christ  as  their  Saviour  and  Lord  and  ex¬ 
ample.  I  have  no  expectation  of  getting  men, 
women  and  children  generally  to  really  believe  in 
hell,  but  I  do  expect  to  get  many  of  you  here  to¬ 
night  to  really  believe  in  hell,  and  so  to  get  you  to 
quit  your  crimes  if  you  are  criminals,  as  some  of 
you  very  likely  are,  and  to  get  some  of  you  who  are 
living  double  lives,  and  are  untrue  to  wife  or  hus¬ 
band,  to  quit  your  vile  and  damning  sin,  and  to  get 
some  of  you  who  are  contemplating  divorce  to  give 
up  the  thought  of  that  which  is  pretty  sure  to  land 
you  in  an  everlasting  hell  if  you  do  it,  and  to  get 
every  one  of  you  who  may  be  contemplating  suicide 
to  give  up  this  silly,  cowardly,  and  desperate  act  you 
are  planning,  an  act  that  will  take  you  to  an  ever¬ 
lasting  hell  by  lightning  express,  and  I  expect  to 
lead  many  of  you  to  accept  Jesus  Christ  as  your  per¬ 
sonal  Saviour,  and  to  surrender  to  Him  as  your  Lord 
and  Master,  and  to  confess  Him  as  such  publicly  be¬ 
fore  the  world,  which  in  the  last  analysis  is  the  only 
course  of  action  that  will  save  you  from  spending 
eternity  in  the  “  everlasting  fire  ”  never  intended  for 
you,  but  “  prepared  for  the  Devil  and  his  angels,” 
but  to  which  all  those  who  prefer  to  cast  in  their  lot 


THERE  IS  A  HELL 


169 


with  the  devil  rather  than  to  accept  Jesus  Christ, 
will  certainly  go. 

I.  It  Is  Certain  That  There  Is  a  Hell 

The  First  thought  I  wish  to  impress  indelibly 
upon  your  minds,  to  impress  so  indelibly  and  vividly 
upon  your  minds  that  it  will  determine  your  whole 
future  conduct,  is  that  there  is  a  hell,  that  there  is 
not  only  a  hell  of  suffering  and  torment  of  con¬ 
science  in  the  life  that  now  is,  as  the  consequence 
of  sin,  but  that  there  is  an  awful  hell  hereafter,  in 
the  life  which  is  to  come,  which  is  the  only  sense  in 
which  Jesus  Christ  ever  speaks  of  “  hell.,,  We  talk 
of  <(  hell  on  earth/’  but  that  is  only  an  expressive 
figure  of  speech,  but  the  real  hell,  the  “  hell  ”  the 
Bible  speaks  of,  is  after  the  present  life  is  ended. 
It  is  absolutely  certain  that  there  is  a  hell  hereafter. 
Why  do  I  say  so? 

i.  First  of  all,  It  is  certain  that  there  is  a  hell 
beyond  the  grave  waiting  vast  multitudes  now  lizring 
unless  they  repent,  because  Jesus  Christ  says  so.  He 
says  so  in  the  plainest  and  most  unmistakable  lan¬ 
guage  in  every  one  of  my  texts.  I  have  purposely 
taken  every  one  of  my  texts  not  from  the  Bible  in 
general  but  from  the  words  of  Jesus  Christ  Himself. 
It  was  easy  to  do  this  because  Jesus  Christ  has  more 
to  say  about  hell  than  any  other  person  whose  words 
are  recorded  in  the  New  Testament.  Jesus  Christ 
had  more  to  say  about  hell  than  Peter  or  Paul  or 
James  or  John  or  Jude,  or  all  of  them  put  together. 
There  are  two  Greek  words  that  are  translated  hell 
in  our  Authorized  Version.  One  of  them  does  not 
properly  mean  “  hell  ”  at  all,  but  “  Hades,”  the  abode 


170 


HOW  TO  BE  SAVED 


of  departed  spirits,  the  abode  of  all  departed  spirits 
both  good  and  bad  up  to  the  time  of  the  ascension 
of  Jesus  Christ,  at  which  time  the  spirits  of  the 
righteous  dead  were  taken  out  of  their  part  of 
Hades,  “  Paradise,”  up  into  a  heavenly  “  Paradise,” 
but  the  wicked  were  left  in  their  part  of  Hades, 
“Tartarus,”  where  they  will  remain  until  the  judg¬ 
ment  of  the  Great  White  Throne  at  the  end  of  the 
millennium,  when  they  will  be  “  cast  into  the  Lake 
of  Fire,”  the  real  “  hell.”  There  is  a  third  Greek 
word,  used  once  in  the  New  Testament,  which  is 
translated  “  hell  ”  in  both  Authorized  and  Revised 
Versions  (II  Pet.  2:4),  but  which  strictly  speaking 
does  not  mean  hell  at  all,  but  Tartarus,  i.  e.,  that  part 
of  Hades  where  the  wicked  dead,  and  some  of  the 
fallen  angels,  now  are,  “  reserved  unto  judgment,” 
after  which  they,  too,  will  be  cast  into  “  the  Lake 
of  Fire  ”  “  prepared  for  the  devil  and  his  angels,”  the 
proper  hell.  Now  the  Greek  word  properly  trans¬ 
lated  “  hell  ”  is  found  twelve  times  in  the  New 
Testament  and  in  eleven  out  of  those  twelve  in¬ 
stances  it  is  used  by  Jesus  Christ  Himself,  and  in 
only  one  instance  is  it  used  by  anyone  else,  James. 
Of  course  hell  is  spoken  of  in  numerous  other  pas¬ 
sages  where  the  word  is  not  used ;  but  most  of  these 
passages  also  are  utterances  of  Jesus  Christ.  So  to 
preach  hell  is  to  be  Christlike  in  your  preaching. 
In  face  of  these  facts,  how  utterly  silly  to  say,  as 
so  many  do  say  in  these  days,  that  they  are  too  kind- 
hearted  and  too  full  of  love  of.  their  fellow-man  to 
believe  in  or  preach  hell.  Who  was  the  kindest- 
hearted  man  that  ever  walked  this  earth?  Who  was 
the  most  full  of  love  of  any  man  who  ever  walked 


THERE  IS  A  HELL 


171 


this  earth?  Beyond  a  question  Jesus  Christ,  and  He 
is  the  very  One  who  preaohed  hell  more  than  any 
other  New  Testament  writer  or  speaker.  What 
about  these  men  who  say  it  is  cruel  to  preach  hell 
and  try  to  impeach  the  kind-heartedness  of  John 
Calvin  and  Jonathan  Edwards,  because  these  great 
thinkers,  both  of  them  among  the  greatest  thinkers 
the  world  has  ever  known,  have  so  faithfully  pre¬ 
sented  the  truth  about  hell?  Whom  are  you  really 
impeaching?  You  are  impeaching  Jesus  Christ. 
But  Jesus  Christ’s  love  of  men  was  of  the  genuine 
sort:  and  He  proved  His  love  in  a  more  real  and 
practical  way  than  by  lulling  men  to  sleep  with  false 
hopes,  or  by  playing  to  the  galleries  and  winning  the 
plaudits  of  empty-headed  men  by  telling  them  how 
kindhearted  and  liberal  they  are,  and  telling  them 
how  good  they  are,  and  how  they  are  not  sinners, 
but  that  there  is  a  spark  of  divinity  in  them  all,  and 
that  they  are  in  no  danger  of  going  to  hell,  and 
that  there  isn’t  any  hell  anyway,  and  that  they  can 
get  drunk,  and  commit  adultery,  and  divorce  their 
wives,  and  oppress  the  poor,  and  live  luxuriously, 
and  take  life  easy  while  others  starve,  and  reject  the 
Son  of  God,  and  yet  somehow  come  out  all  right  in 
the  long  run  anyhow.  Men  and  women,  what  do 
you  listen  to  these  ministers  of  the  devil  masquerad¬ 
ing  as  ministers  of  righteousness  for  anyhow?  In 
your  heart  of  hearts  you  know  that  they  are  lying  to 
you  and  lulling  you  to  sleep  by  false  hopes  that  will 
land  you  in  an  eternal  hell.  No,  Jesus  Christ  showed 
His  love,  real  love,  genuine  love,  not  camouflaged 
selfishness,  by  telling  us  the  truth  about  hell,  and 
then  by  leaving  Heaven  with  all  its  glory  and  com- 


172 


HOW  TO  BE  SAVED 


ing  down  to  earth  with  all  its  shame  and  dying  the 
awful  death  of  Calvary,  where  He  bore  the  awful 
weight  of  our  sins,  to  save  us  from  going  to  the  hell 
of  which  He  had  told  us.  Listen  to  Jesus  Christ. 
You  will  if  you  are  not  a  poor,  blinded  fool.  The 
preacher  who  declares  that  there  is  no  hell  hereafter, 
or  no  very  awful  and  long-enduring  hell,  is  the  most 
useful  servant  the  devil  has  in  this  present  dispensa¬ 
tion.  He  is  the  devil’s  best  servitor.  Of  course 
Colonel  Ingersoll  declared  often  and  with  great  elo¬ 
quence  that  there  was  no  hell.  But  no  really  intel¬ 
ligent  and  fair-minded  man  or  woman  ever  took  Bob 
Ingersoll  seriously.  They  know  he  was  talking  for 
so  many  hundred  dollars  a  night,  and  that  his  pri¬ 
vate  morals  and  private  conversation  were  not  of  a 
character  to  give  force  to  his  words  in  public.  But 
men  do  take  ministers  seriously.  Many  excellent 
men  and  women  think  anything  their  minister  says 
must  be  so.  And  often  the  personal  morals  and  pri¬ 
vate  conversation  of  this  class  of  preachers  is  so  ex¬ 
emplary  as  to  commend  their  doctrine,  and  so  they 
beguile  many  and  mislead  many  and  encourage  many 
to  continue  in  sin  and  go  to  hell.  Therefore  I  say 
again,  don’t  listen  to  them,  listen  to  Jesus  Christ  and 
then  you  are  safe.  What  does  Jesus  Christ  say? 

(i.)  Listen  to  my  first  text,  Matt.  5  :  29:  “  And  if 
thy  right  eye  causeth  thee  to  stumble,  pluck  it  out 
and  cast  it  from  thee ;  for  it  is  profitable  for  thee 
that  one  of  thy  members  should  perish,  and  not  thy 
whole  body  be  cast  into  hell.”  These  are  the  words  of 
Jesus  Christ  and  they  are  from  the  Sermon  on  the 
Mount,  and  I  have  given  you  the  Revised  Version. 
I  have  taken  these  words  from  the  Sermon  on  the 


THERE  IS  A  HELL 


173 


Mount  for  two  reasons.  First,  because  they  exactly 
suit  my  purpose  and  state  in  a  plain  and  unmistak¬ 
able  way  the  important  truth  I  am  trying  to  make 
you  see  and  feel.  I  have  taken  them  from  the  Ser¬ 
mon  on  the  Mount  for  a  second  reason,  and  that  is, 
because  pretty  much  everybody  says  they  believe 
that  part  of  the  Bible  even  though  they  do  not  believe 
the  rest  of  the  Bible,  and  these  words  are  taken 
from  that  part  of  the  Bible  which  pretty  much  every¬ 
one  professes  to  believe.  I  have  also  taken  them 
from  the  Revised  Version  for  two  reasons.  In  the 
first  place,  I  took  them  from  the  Revised  Version 
because  the  Revised  Version  is  a  more  exact  ren¬ 
dering  of  the  original  than  the  Authorized.  And  I 
have  taken  them  from  the  Revised  Version  in  the 
second  place,  because  there  are  many^  people,  includ¬ 
ing  some  alleged  “  scholarly  preachers,”  who  say 
that  “the  Revised  Version  has  done  away  with  hell.” 
That  shows  how  little  they  know  about  the  Revised 
Version ;  there  is  still  plenty  of  hell  left  in  our  texts. 
It  is  true  the  Revised  Version  does  translate  one 
word  “  Hades  ”  that  the  Authorized  Version  trans¬ 
lates  "  hell,”  and  it  is  abundantly  warranted  in  doing 
so;  but  where  the  Lord  Jesus  really  spoke  about  hell 
we  find  it  in  the  Revised  Version  just  as  strongly 
as  in  the  Authorized  Version.  Now  these  words  of 
our  Lord  Jesus  Christ  clearly  teach  that  there  is  a 
hell  into  which  men  are  cast  after  death,  and  that 
that  hell  is  so  awful  that  you  would  better  suffer  any 
conceivable,  lifelong,  earthly  loss  than  to  go  there. 
Now  if  there  is  no  hell  after  death,  or,  if  the^hell 
after  death  is  not  a  place  of  inconceivable  agony, 
then  the  Lord  Jesus  was  either  a  colossal  fool  or  a 


174 


HOW  TO  BE  SAVED 


shameless  liar.  If  there  is  no  immeasurably  awful 
hell  after  death,  then  either  Jesus  Christ  thought 
that  there  was  and,  therefore,  so  taught,  when  there 
was  not,  in  which  case  He  was  a  colossal  fool,  or 
else  He  knew  that  there  was  not  but  taught  that 
there  was  to  scare  men  into  doing  what  He  wanted 
them  to  do,  in  which  case  He  was  a  shameless  liar 
and  stupendous  fraud.  You  cannot  deny  a  hell  after 
death  of  immeasurable  agony  and  horror  without 
making  Jesus  Christ  out  to  have  been  a  colossal  fool 
or  a  shameless  liar  and  stupendous  fraud.  But 
Jesus  Christ  was  not  a  colossal  fool,  He  was  not  a 
shameless  liar,  and  He  was  not  a  stupendous  fraud. 
He  was  a  teacher  sent  from  God  who  spoke  the  very 
words  of  God,  He  was  the  only  begotten  Son  of 
God,  He  was  God  manifest  in  the  flesh.  That  was 
His  claim  and  God  Almighty  set  the  stamp  of  His 
endorsement  upon  that  claim  by  raising  Him  from 
the  dead.  The  resurrection  of  our  Lord  Jesus  Christ 
from  the  dead  is,  as  I  have  shown  time  and  time 
again  from  this  platform,  the  best  proven  faot  of 
history,  and  that  indisputable  fact  proves  Jesus 
Christ  to  have  been  a  teacher  sent  from  God  who 
spoke  the  very  words  of  God,  and  therefore  we  must 
believe  whatever  He  says,  and  He  says  that  there 
is  a  hell  after  death,  a  place  of  conscious  torment, 

and  its  loss  and  agony  are  so  inconceivably  terrible 

■> 

that  you  would  better  suffer  any  lifelong  loss  here 
on  earth  than  go  there:  and  as  Jesus  Christ  says  so 
that  settles  it. 

We  know  nothing  about  the  future,  but  what 
Jesus  Christ  tells  us,  tells  us  either  directly  Himself 
or  through  His  inspired  apostles.  The  wisest  man’s 


THERE  IS  A  HELL 


175 


speculations,  the  greatest  philosopher's  speculations, 
about  the  future  are  absolutely  worthless.  You  may 
say  “  I  don’t  believe  what  the  Bible  says,  I  think  so 
and  so.”  But  your  “think  so ”  is  not  worth  the 
breath  you  waste  in  telling  it.  Your  opinion  about 
either  Heaven  or  hell  or  about  the  coming  of  Christ, 
or  about  anything  else  that  lies  in  the  future  is  worth 
no  more  than  the  opinion  some  man  has  about  the 
interior  of  Africa,  who  has  never  been  in  the  interior 
of  Africa,  nor  heard  directly  or  indirectly  from 
someone  else  who  had  been  in  the  interior  of  Africa. 
Your  opinion  is  utterly  foolish  and  futile  guessing. 
The  man  we  want  to  hear  is  the  man  who  has  been 
there,  the  man  who  knows.  Jesus  knows.  Listen 
to  Him. 

(2).  Turn  to  another  utterance  of  Jesus  Christ 
on  this  subject,  Matt.  10:28  R.  V.:  “  Be  not  afraid 
of  them  which  kill  the  body,  but  are  not  able  to  kill 
the  soul :  but  rather  fear  him  who  is  able  to  destroy 
both  soul  and  body  in  hell”  Here  Jesus  tells  us  that 
hell  is  a  place  to  which  “  both  soul  and  body  ”  go. 
The  body  does  not  go  to  Hades,  the  soul  goes  there, 
it  may  have  some  temporary  body  there,  but  this 
body  that  we  now  inhabit  lies  in  the  ground  and  is 
disintegrated,  but  at  the  end  of  the  thousand  years 
Jesus  will  raise  the  bodies  of  the  wicked  dead,  the 
righteous  dead  having  already  been  raised  at  His 
coming,  but  at  the  end  of  the  thousand  years  the 
wicked  dead  shall  hear  His  voice  and  come  forth 
and  their  bodies  will  be  raised  and  soul  and  body 
will  both  (be  cast  together  into  hell  to  spend  eternity 
there  and  suffer  (Rev.  20:  11-15).  It  is  evident 
from  this  verse  that  according  to  the  teaching  of 


176 


HOW  TO  BE  SAVED 


Jesus  Christ,  hell  is  a  place  of  physical  torment  as 
well  as  of  mental  anguish ,  of  remorse  and  shame. 
The  physical  agonies  of  hell  are  not  the  worst 
agonies  of  hell,  but  they  constitute  a  very  important 
part  of  its  misery. 

Even  in  this  present  life  sin  has  physical  penal¬ 
ties.  My !  but  what  awful  physical  suffering  I  have 
seen  men  undergo  as  a  direct  consequence  of  their 
wrongdoing.  It  will  be  so  in  a  greatly  enhanced  de¬ 
gree  in  hell. 

(3.)  Listen  to  a  third  statement  of  Jesus  Christ, 
Matt.  25 : 41  R.  V.,  “  Depart  from  me,  ye  cursed, 
into  the  eternal  fire  which  is  prepared  for  the  devil 
and  his  angels  ” ;  and  to  a  fourth,  Matt.  25 : 46 
R.  V.,  “  And  these  shall  go  away  into  eternal  pun¬ 
ishment:  but  the  righteous  into  eternal  life.”  Here 
the  word  “  hell  ”  is  not  found,  but  the  fact  of  hell 
is  set  forth  in  vivid  and  appalling  language,  and  it 
is  Jesus  Christ  who  is  speaking.  We  see  something 
of  the  awfulness  of  the  suffering  of  hell,  and  we  see 
the  everlasting  duration  of  hell.  The  question 
arises,  Does  the  word  “  eternal  ”  used  in  both  verses 
forty-one  and  forty-six  mean  never  ending ?  To  this 
would  say  that  the  word,  according  to  its  etymology, 
might  mean  simply  a^-lasting,  but  according  to  its 
unvarying  usage  in  the  New  Testament  it  does  mean 
m?rlasting.  That  I  have  shown  in  my  pamphlet 
“  The  Real  Truth  About  an  Everlasting  Hell.”  But, 
furthermore,  the  word  “  eternal  ”  is  used  twice  in 
the  forty-sixth  verse.  In  the  first  instance  it  is 
coupled  with  the  word  “  punishment,”  and  in  the  sec¬ 
ond  instance  it  is  coupled  with  the  word  “ life” 
Now  what  it  means  in  one  case  it  must  mean  in  the 


THERE  IS  A  HELL 


177 


other,  because  certainly  our  Lord  Jesus  Christ  was 
no  mere  trickster  in  His  use  of  words,  and  therefore 
He  would  not  use  the  very  same  word  in  one  sense 
in  one  part  of  a  verse,  and  in  an  entirely  different 
sense  in  another  part  of  the  verse  where  it  is  put 
in  contrast  with  it :  so  what  the  word  “  eternal  ” 
means  in  connection  with  “punishment”  it  must 
also  mean  in  connection  with  “life,”  and  what  it 
means  in  connection  with  “  life  ”  it  must  also  mean 
in  connection  with  “punishment”  Now  every  one 
knows  that  the  life  that  is  the  reward  of  the  right¬ 
eous  is  endless,  therefore  according  to  the  teaching  of 
Jesus  Christ  the  punishment  of  the  lost  must  also  be 
endless.  Never  accept  any  interpretation  of  any  pas¬ 
sage  that  inevitably  involves  your  making  Jesus 
Christ  out  to  have  been  a  contemptible  trickster  in 
His  teaching. 

Some  one  may  ask,  Does  the  “  fire  ”  here  mean 
literal  fire?  We  will  not  stop  to  argue  that  to-night. 
If  you  take  it  as  a  figure,  remember  that  figures  al¬ 
ways  stand  for  facts,  and  that  as  Jesus  was  no  liar, 
the  figures  He  use9  never  overstate  the  facts.  How 
terrific,  how  appalling  must  be  the  facts  that  war¬ 
rant  Jesus’  using  such  a  figure  as  this. 

It  is  certain  that  there  is  an  everlasting  hell 
because  Jesus  says  so.  We  have  exactly  the  same 
reason  for  believing  in  a  future  hell  for  the  wicked 
as  we  have  for  believing  in  a  future  life  of  blessed¬ 
ness  for  the  righteous,  God's  zuord  uttered  by  God's 
own  Son.  There  is  no  other  conclusive  proof  for 
either  Heaven  or  hell.  Give  up  belief  in  hell  and, 
if  you  are  logical,  you  must  give  up  belief  in  Heaven 
or  any  future  after  death.  Give  up  your  belief  in 


178 


HOW  TO  BE  SAVED 


hell,  such  a  hell  as  Jesus  taught,  and  logically  noth¬ 
ing  remains  but  annihilation  for  everybody. 

But  if  you  are  really  logical  you  will  not  give  up 
one  or  the  other.  For  Jesus  Christ  taught  both,  and 
the  known  facts  about  His  resurrection  from  the 
dead  and  many  other  things  also,  compel  us,  if  we 
are  really  logical,  to  accept  Jesus  Christ  as  a  teacher 
sent  from  God,  absolutely  reliable  and  inerrant,  who 
spoke  the  very  word's  of  God.  It  is  certain,  then, 
that  there  is  a  hell  after  death,  that  its  agonies  are 
so  appalling  that  we  would  better  suffer  any  loss  or 
pain  than  go  there,  that  body  and  soul  both  share 
in  its  suffering,  and  that  its  agonies  are  so  awful  as 
to  warrant  the  figure  of  “everlasting  fire  ”  (if  it  be 
a  figure)  in  speaking  of  them,  and  that  its  suffering 
never  ends. 

2.  If  there  were  time  or  necessity  I  could  show 
you  that  if  there  is  any  future  life  at  all,  it  is  cer¬ 
tain  that  there  is  an  awful  and  eternal  hell  because 
every  fact  of  experimental  psychology,  every  dictate 
of  unprejudiced  reason,  every  known  fact  of  God's 
present  dealing  with  man,  points  that  way,  and  the 
only  thing  against  such  belief  is  an  appeal  to  preju¬ 
dice  and  mere  baseless  sentiment,  or  an  irrational 
dwelling  upon,  and  drazmng  unwarranted  inferences 
from  some  statements  in  Scripture,  which  inferences 
flatly  contradict  other  plain  statements  of  the  same 
Bible.  There  is  nothing  more  certain  about  the 
future  than  that  there  is  beyond  the  grave  an  awful 
and  eternal  hell  for  many. 

II.  If  You  Don't  Look  Out  You  Will  Go  There 

Now  a  few  words  about  the  second  part  of  our 


THERE  IS  A  HELL 


179 


subject.  The  first  part  of  our  subject  as  announced 
was  there  is  a  hell.  That  we  have  seen  is  cer¬ 
tain.  The  second  part  was,  if  you  don't  look  out 
you  will  go  there.  Nobody  will  escape  hell  with¬ 
out  a  conscious  effort,  without  deliberate  action, 
without  doing  one  specific  thing.  We  all  deserve  to 
go  to  hell ;  for  we  have  all  sinned,  and  God  is  an 
infinitely  holy  God.  There  is  not  a  man  or  woman 
here  to-night,  young  or  old,  who  has  not  sinned: 
“  For  all  have  sinned  and  come  short  of  the  glory 
of  God  ”  (Rom.  3:23  R.  V.).  “  If  we  say  we  have 
no  sin,  we  deceive  ourselves,  and  the  truth  is  not 
in  us.  .  .  .  If  we  say  we  have  not  sinned,  we 

make  God  a  liar,  and  his  word  is  not  in  us”  (I  John 
I  :8-io  R.  V.).  There  is  not  a  man  or  woman  here 
to-night  who  has  not  sinned  outrageously,  there  is 
not  a  man  or  woman  here  to-night  who  has  not 
broken  God’s  first  and  greatest  commandment  and 
thereby  committed  the  greatest  sin  a  man  or  woman 
can  commit.  What  is  God’s  first  and  great  com¬ 
mandment?  Listen  to  the  words  of  Jesus  again, 
Matt.  22:37,  38,  “And  he  (Jesus)  said  unto  him, 
Thou  shalt  love  the  Lord  thy  God  with  all  thy  heart, 
and  with  all  thy  soul,  and  with  all  thy  mind.  This 
is  the  great  and  first  commandment.”  This  is  God’s 
first  and  great  commandment,  to  love  God  with  all 
your  heart,  with  all  your  soul,  with  all  your  mind, 
to  put  God  first  in  everything,  God  first  in  business, 
God  first  in  politics,  God  first  in  home  life,  God  first 
in  social  life,  God  first  in  amusements,  God  first  in 
study,  God  first  in  everything.  Not  one  of  us  has 
ever  done  it  our  whole  life  through ;  therefore  every¬ 
one  of  us  has  broken  this  first  and  greatest  of  God’s 


180 


HOW  TO  BE  SAVED 


commandments  and  therefore  everyone  of  us  has 
committed  the  greatest  sin  a  man  or  woman  can  pos¬ 
sibly  commit,  and  we  all  deserve  to  go  to  hell ;  and 
we  will  go  to  hell  unless  we  look  out,  unless  we  make 
some  definite  effort  and  take  some  definite  step  to 
keep  from  going  there.  No  one  ever  drifted  to 
Heaven.  Anyone  who  merely  drifts,  drifts  to  hell. 
Many  of  you  here  to-night  are  merely  drifting.  I 
once  saw  a  little  card.  On  one  side  of  the  card  this 
question  was  printed,  “  What  must  I  do  to  be 
saved  ?  ”  and  then  God’s  own  answer  to  the  question 
was  given  as  found  in  Acts  16:31,  “Believe  on  the 
Lord  Jesus  and  thou  shalt  be  saved.”  At  the  bot¬ 
tom  of  the  card  it  said  “  Turn  over.”  And  turning 
it  over  I  found  this  question,  “  What  must  I  do  to 
be  lost?”  and  it  gave  the  answer  in  one  word, 
“  Nothing.”  One  does  not  need  to  do  anything  to 
be  lost.  We  are  lost  already  unless  we  do  some¬ 
thing  definite.  If  you  are  on  the  Niagara  river,  even 
way  up  above  the  Falls  and  the  Rapids,  if  you  just 
drift  you  are  bound  to  go  over  the  Falls.  You  do 
not  need  in  order  to  go  over  the  Falls  to  take  up 
the  oars  and  pull  with  the  stream.  The  way  to  keep 
from  going  over  the  Falls  is  to  pull  upstream,  and 
you  must  begin  pulling  before  you  get  into  the 
rapids.  Well  we  are  in  the  current  of  sin,  and  the 
current  is  moving  toward  hell,  at  first  slowly,  but 
soon  faster,  and  at  last  with  a  rush  that  cannot  be 
resisted.  Consent  to  drift  and  you  are  sure  to  wind 
up  in  hell.  If  you  don’t  look  out  you  will  go 
there. 

In  what  way  must  we  look  out  in  order  not  to  go 
there?  What  must  we  do  to  keep  us  from  going 


THERE  IS  A  HELL 


181 


to  hell?  There  is  only  one  thing  we  can  do  that  will 
keep  us  from  going  to  hell.  Anyone  who  does  that 
one  thing  will  escape  hell  and  go  to  Heaven,  but  on 
the  other  hand  anyone  good  or  bad,  vicious  or  moral, 
liberal  and  generous  or  outrageously  miserly,  lovely 
and  amiable  or  mean  and  disgusting,  anyone  who 
does  not  do  it  will  go  to  hell.  What  is  that  one 
thing?  The  answer  is  found  repeatedly  in  the  Word 
of  God:  Accept  Jesus  Christ  as  your  Saviour.  Read 
John  3:  18,  “He  that  believeth  on  him  is  not  con¬ 
demned  :  but  he  that  believeth  not  is  condemned 
already,  because  he  hath  not  believed  on  the  name 
of  the  only  begotten  son  of  God.,,  Listen  to  John 
1:12,  “As  many  as  received  him,  to  them  gave  he 
the  right  to  become  children  of  God,  even  to  them 
that  believe  on  his  name  ”  Listen  to  John  3:36, 
"  He  that  believeth  on  the  Son  hath  eternal  life,  but 
he  that  believeth  not  the  Son  shall  not  see  life,  but 
the  wrath  of  God  abideth  on  him ”  We  have  all 
sinned  as  we  have  seen,  and  therefore  are  hellward 
bound.  But  Jesus  Christ  died  for  our  sins,  “  All 
we  like  sheep  have  gone  astray;  we  have  turned 
every  one  to  his  own  way;  and  the  Lord  hath  laid 
on  him  the  iniquity  of  us  all”  (Is.  53:6).  He  made 
perfect  atonement  for  our  sins,  and  then  He  arose 
from  the  dead  and  lives  to-day,  and  has  “  all  power 
in  heaven  and  on  earth,”  and  therefore  has  power  to 
give  us  victory  over  sin  every  day.  Accept  Him  as 
your  atoning  Saviour,  who  settled  every  one  of  your 
sins  by  dying  for  them  on  the  cross,  and  trust  God 
to  forgive  you  because  the  Lord  Jesus  died  in  your 
place,  and  the  moment  you  do  it  your  sins  are  all 
forgiven.  “  Be  it  known  unto  you  therefore, 


182 


HOW  TO  BE  SAVED 


brethren,  that  through  this  man  is  proclaimed  unto 
you  remission  of  sins ;  and  by  Him  every  one  that 
believeth  is  justified  from  all  things”  (Acts  13:39). 
Trust  Him  also  as  your  Risen  Saviour  to  keep  you 
from  the  power  of  sin,  and  He  will.  Do  that  and 
you  will  be  saved,  do  not  do  it  and  you  will  spend 
eternity  in  hell.  Really  doing  it  involves  surrender¬ 
ing  your  life,  and  your  thoughts,  and  your  will,  and 
your  conduct  to  His  control.  It  involves  also  the 
open  confession  of  Him  before  the  world.  Real  faith 
always  leads  to  open  confession.  As  Paul  puts  it, 
“If  thou  shalt  confess  with  thy  mouth  Jesus  as 
Lord,  and  shalt  believe  in  thy  heart  that  God  raised 
him  from  the  dead,  thou  shalt  be  saved:  for  with  the 
heart  man  believeth  unto  righteousness,  and  with  the 
mouth  confession  is  made  unto  salvation  ”  (Rom. 
10:9,  10).  What  are  you  going  to  do?  Are  you 
going  to  choos?  Heaven  or  hell?  Will  you  accept 
Christ  to-night,  and  make  sure  of  Heaven?  or  will 
you  reject  Christ  and  make  sure  of  hell? 


/ 


XII 

THERE  IS  A  HEAVEN  AND  WHOSOEVER 
WISHES  TO  CAN  SPEND  ETERNITY 

THERE 

“In  my  father's  house  are  many  mansions;  if  it 
were  not  so,  I  would  have  told  you;  for  I  go  to 
prepare  a  place  for  you.  And  if  I  go  and  prepare 
a  place  for  you,  I  come  again,  and  will  receive  you 
unto  myself;  that  where  I  am,  there  ye  may  he  also. 
And  whither  I  go,  ye  know  the  way.  Thomas  saith 
unto  him,  Lord  we  know  not  whither  thou  goest ; 
how  know  we  the  way?  Jesus  saith  unto  him,  I 
am  the  way,  and  the  truth,  and  the  life:  no  man 
cometh  unto  the  Father,  but  by  me." — John  14:2-6., 

AS  in  the  previous  address,  I  am  here  using 
five  texts.  My  second  text  is  Jno.  17:24: 
“  Father,  I  will  that  they  also,  whom  thou 
hast  given  me,  be  with  me  where  I  am;  that  they 
may  behold  my  glory;  which  thou  hast  given  me: 
for  thou  lovedst  me  before  the  foundation  of  the 
world.” 

My  third  text  is  Heb.  8:1:  “  Now  in  the  things 
which  we  are  saying  the  chief  point  is  this:  We 
have  such  an  high  priest,  who  sat  down  on  the  right 
hand  of  the  throne  of  the  Majesty  in  the  heavens.” 

My  fourth  text  is  II  Cor.  5:1:  “  For  we  know 
that  if  the  earthly  house  of  our  tabernacle  be  dis- 

183 


.184 


HOW  TO  BE  SAVED 


solved,  we  have  a  building  from  God,  a  house  not 
made  with  hands,  eternal,  in  the  heavens.” 

My  fifth  text  is  I  Pet.  i :  3-5 :  “  Blessed  be  the 
God  and  father  of  our  Lord  Jesus  Christ,  who  ac¬ 
cording  to  his  great  mercy  begot  us  again  into  a 
living  hope  by  the  resurrection  of  Jesus  Christ  from 
the  dead,  unto  an  inheritance  incorruptible,  and  un¬ 
defiled,  and  that  fadeth  not  away,  reserved  in 
Heaven  for  you,  who  by  the  power  of  God  are 
guarded  through  faith  unto  a  salvation  ready  to  be 
revealed  in  the  last  time.” 

My  subject  in  the  previous  address  was:  There 
is  a  hell  and  if  you  don't  look  out  you  are  going 
there.  We  saw  that  it  was  absolutely  certain  that 
there  was  a  hell  after  death,  that  its  agonies  were 
so  appalling  that  we  would  better  suffer  any  loss  or 
pain  than  go  there,  that  body  and  soul  both  shared 
in  its  suffering,  and  that  its  agonies  are  so  awful  as 
to  warrant  the  figure  of  “everlasting  fire”  (if  it 
be  a  figure)  in  speaking  of  them,  and  that  its  suffer¬ 
ing  never  ends.  And  we  saw  that  it  was  certain 
that  we  would  go  there  unless  we  did  one  specific 
thing,  accept  Jesus  Christ  as  our  personal  Saviour, 
and,  that  that  involved  the  surrender  of  ourselves 
to  Him  as  our  Lord  and  Master,  and  the  open  con¬ 
fession  of  Him  before  the  world.  To-night  we  turn 
from  this  very  dark  and  forbidding  subject  to  a  very 
bright  and  alluring  subject,  namely,  There  is  a 
Heaven  and  whosoever  wishes  to  can  spend  eternity 
there.  Last  Sunday  night  I  confined  my  texts  to 
statements  of  Jesus  Christ,  because  men  very  natu¬ 
rally  are  so  unwilling  to  believe  in  hell,  and  because 
with  very  many  the  words  of  Jesus  Christ  have  more 


THEKE  IS  A  HEAVEN 


185 


weight  than  the  words  of  Paul  or  John  or  other 
New  Testament  writers.  Indeed,  with  any  really  in¬ 
telligent  and  fair-minded  and  genuinely  logical  man, 
who  faces  the  facts  in  the  case,  the  words  of  Jesus 
Christ  must  be  absolutely  conclusive  and  decisive. 
When  Jesus  Christ  says  anything,  that  settles  it  for 
any  man  who  is  not  really  a  fool.  I  know  that  there 
are  those  who  pose  as  great  scholars,  who  do  not 
accept  the  statements  of  Jesus  Christ  as  final,  but 
that  only  shows  how  a  man  can  be  a  great  scholar 
and  at  the  same  time  be  a  great  fool.  We  all  know 
that  the  history  of  human  thinking  abounds  in  in¬ 
stances  where  great  scholars  have  been  proven  to  be 
great  fools.  In  fact  through  the  whole  history  of 
human  scholarship  the  “  assured  results  ”  of  the 
scholarship  of  one  generation  have  continually 
proven  to  be  the  exploded  nonsense  of  the  next  gen¬ 
eration.  Every  generation  of  scholars  admits  that 
about  the  scholarship  of  preceding  generations,  but 
each  generation  cherishes  the  hope  that  it  will  not 
prove  true  of  their  generation.  They  fancy  that  they 
at  last  have  attained  “the  final  science/’  and  the 
“Absolute  Philosophy.”  Well,  that  is  what  our  dear 
departed  ancestors  thought  about  the  science  and 
philosophy  of  their  day,  but  it  did  not  turn  out  that 
way.  And,  our  descendants  will  be  making  merry 
over  our  scientific  and  philosophical  follies,  just  as 
we  are  now  making  merry  over  those  of  the  scholars 
who  have  passed  on.  But  amid  the  wreck  of  human 
scientific  theories  and  human  philosophies,  the  words 
of  Jesus  Christ  stand  unmoved  and  unassailable. 
And  every  man  who  is  really  wise  believes  His 
words  absolutely,  and  the  man  who  does  not  may 


186 


HOW  TO  BE  SAVED 


fancy  that  he  is  a  Philosopher,  but  he  would  better 
spell  the  first  syllable  with  two  o’s  rather  than 
one  i. 

To-night  I  start  with  two  foundation  texts  that  are 
from  the  words  of  Jesus  Christ,  but  also  use  texts 
from  others  who  were  unquestionably  inspired  of 
God,  texts  that  illuminate  and  emphasize  the  words 
of  Christ. 

I.  The  Absolute  Certainty  That  There  Is  a 

Heaven 

The  first  thought  I  wish  to  drive  home  and  so 
rivet  in  your  minds  that  you  will  never  question  it 
again  is,  that  It  is  absolutely  certain  that  there  is  a 
Heaven  to  which  certain  persons  are  going.  I  am 
as  certain  that  there  is  such  a  place  as  Heaven  as 
I  am  that  there  is  such  a  place  as  Los  Angeles. 
Why  is  it  absolutely  certain  that  there  is  such  a  place 
as  Heaven? 

i.  First  of  all,  It  is  absolutely  certain  that  there 
is  such  a  place  as  Heaven  because  Jesus  Christ  says 
so.  He  says  so  in  the  first  of  our  texts.  He  says, 
“  I  go  to  prepare  a  place  for  you.”  He  does  not  say, 
I  go  to  prepare  a  state  or  condition  for  you,  He 
says,  “  I  go  to  prepare  a  place  for  you,”  and  when 
our  Lord  Jesus  says  “place,”  He  means  place.  All 
this  modern  swash  about  Heaven  being  a  condition, 
or  a  state  of  mind,  has  no  warrant  in  the  words  of 
Jesus  Christ  nor  in  anything  else  in  the  Bible.  Of 
course  it  would  be  better  to  be  in  a  heavenly  moral 
condition  and  a  heavenly  state  of  mind  in  a  de¬ 
cidedly  unheavenly  place,  than  to  be  in  a  hellish 
moral  condition  and  hellish  state  of  mind  in  a  heav- 


THERE  IS  A  HEAVEN 


187 


enly  place,  but  it  is  better  yet  to  be  in  a  heavenly 
moral  condition  and  heavenly  state  of  mind  in  a 
heavenly  place ,  and  that  is  what  is  ahead  of  us  if 
we  meet  the  conditions  that  I  shall  state  later.  Yes, 
Heaven  is  a  place.  We  are  not  going  to  be  disem¬ 
bodied  spirits  in  our  eternal  condition  any  more  than 
Jesus  Christ  to-day  is  a  disembodied  spirit.  His 
spirit,  His  real,  essential  personality,  was  disem¬ 
bodied  for  three  days  and  three  nights.  He  left  His 
body  on  the  cross,  and  went  down  into  Hades,  but 
after  three  days  His  body  was  raised,  which  we  have 
seen  again  and  again  from  this  platform  is  the  best 
proven  fact  of  history,  and  His  spirit  returned  to 
that  body,  and  took  that  resurrected,  transformed, 
and  glorified  body  up  to  Heaven  with  Him,  and 
Stephen  saw  Him  in  His  body  after  His  ascension 
(Acts  7:55,  56  R.  V.),  and  Saul  of  Tarsus  saw  Him 
after  His  ascension,  and  He  is  in  a  bodily  form  to¬ 
night,  in  a  place,  Heaven.  We,  too,  shall  have 
bodies  and  be  in  a  place,  and  that  place  is  Heaven. 
You  may  like  this  disembodied  spirit  stuff,  I  do  not. 
As  I  read  Sir  Oliver  Lodge’s  “  Raymond,”  and  the 
descriptions  given  by  the  alleged  spirit  of  his  son, 
through  various  spiritualistic  fakirs,  of  the  life  he 
was  living  since  his  death,  I  thought  to  myself,  I 
cannot  see  what  comfort  Sir  Oliver  Lodge  gets  out 
of  that.  If  that  is  the  Heaven  of  Spiritualism  I 
would  about  as  soon  that  my  son  should  be  in  hell, 
and  much  rather  that  he  would  be  annihilated  and 
utterly  cease  to  be.  But  that  is  not  the  Heaven 
Jesus  Christ  teaches,  nor  is  it  the  Heaven  of  actual 
fact.  Heaven  is  a  place,  and  no  one  who  goes  there 
will  have  any  desire  to  come  down  and  hover  around 


188 


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darkened  and  uncanny  rooms,  and  get  in  contact 
with  his  friends  through  some  low-living  medium, 
who  is  usually  a  drunkard  or  a  dope  fiend,  and  many 
of  whom  are  notoriously  immoral,  and  all  of  whom 
are  of  a  low  type  of  mentality. 

Jesus  Christ  emphasizes  the  fact  that  Heaven  is 
a  place  by  the  first  statement  of  the  same  verse  when 
He  says,  “In  my  father's  house  are  many  mansions ” 
that  is  many  “Abiding  places ”  as  distinguished 
from  the  transitory  character  of  our  earthly  homes. 
I  had  a  home  in  Montrose,  Pennsylvania.  It  was  as 
beautiful  and  comfortable  a  home  as  I  desired  in 
this  world.  My  wife  was  tired  of  wandering  about 
Europe,  Asia,  Africa,  Australia,  and  America,  and 
wanted  to  settle  down,  and  I  bought  this  home ;  and 
we  thought  it  would  be  our  home  for  the  rest  of  our 
earthly  lives.  She  said,  Let  us  call  it  “  Alabama,” 
which  means  “  Here  we  rest.”  And  we  called  it 
“Alabama,”  and  we  rested,  or  she  did.  How  long? 
Less  than  four  years,  and  here  we  are  away  out  in 
California,  and  in  a  few  months  from  now  we  will 
be  in  Asia  again.  But  in  the  next  world  we  have  a 
“ Continuing  City”  (as  God  calls  it  in  Heb.  13:  14)  ; 
the  Revised  Version  translation  is  “  an  abiding  city.” 
The  Greek  word  translated  “  abiding  ”  is  the  par¬ 
ticiple  of  the  verb  from  which  the  noun  translated 
“Mansions”  in  John  14:2  is  derived.  Heaven  is 
a  place ,  and  a  permanent  place.  Yes,  Heaven  is  a 
place. 

Furthermore,  Jesus  says,  “ I  go  to  prepare  a 
place.”  Evidently  He  was  going  from  a  place  where 
He  then  was,  Jerusalem,  on  this  earth,  to  another 
place  where  He  was  not  then  but  was  soon  to  be. 


THERE  IS  A  HEAVEN 


189 


What  was  that  place?  Verse  twenty-eight  of  the 
same  chapter  answers  the  question,  “Ye  heard  how 
I  said  to  you,  I  go  away,  and  I  come  unto  you.  If 
ye  loved  me,  ye  would  have  rejoiced,  because  I  go 
unto  the  father.”  Here  Jesus  says,  “  I  am  going 
away  from  where  I  now  am  and  where  you  are.  I 
am  going  away  from  you  to  My  Father  ”  that  is  God. 
Well,  where  is  God?  Turn  to  the  Lord’s  Prayer 
as  found  in  the  Sermon  on  the  Mount,  and  Jesus 
will  tell  you  just  where  God  is.  That  prayer  which 
our  Lord  taught  us  begins  with  the  words  “  Our 
Father  Who  art  in  Heaven”  (Matt.  6:9  R.  V.). 
That  is  where  God  is,  “in  Heaven.”  Of  course  God 
is  everywhere  in  His  spirit,  but  that  is  only  one  side 
of  the  truth.  God  has  a  local  habitation  and  that 
habitation  is  Heaven.  That  is  where  God  is,  and 
that  is  where  our  Lord  Jesus  Christ  now  is,  at  His 
right  hand.  That  is  where  Stephen  saw  Him  (Acts 
7:  55,  56).  That  is  where  we  are  going  some  day. 
Somebody  heard  that  I  was  going  to  China  next 
summer,  and  they  asked  me  if  I  would  not  take  them 
along  as  private  secretary.  Let  me  tell  you,  I  am 
going  before  a  great  while  to  a  much  more  interest¬ 
ing  place  than  China.  I  am  going  to  Heaven,  and 
any  of  you  can  go  along  if  you  wish  to.  I  will  tell 
you  how  before  I  get  through  to-night. 

There  are  other  places  in  the  Sermon  on  the 
Mount  in  which  our  Lord  Jesus  tells  us  that  Heaven 
is  a  place,  and  that  God  the  Father  is  there.  Fie 
tells  us  so,  for  example,  in  Matt.  7:  11,  “If  ye  then, 
being  evil,  know  how  to  give  good  gifts  unto  your 
children,  how  much  more  shall  your  Father  which  is 
in  Heaven,  give  good  things  to  them  that  ask  Him  ?  ” 


190 


HOW  TO  BE  SAVED 


And  in  Matt.  7:21,  “  Not  every  one  that  saith  unto 
me,  Lord,  Lord,  shall  enter  into  the  kingdom  of 
Heaven ;  but  he  that  doeth  the  will  of  my  father 
which  is  in  Heaven” 

Our  Lord  Jesus  tells  us  in  another  of  our  texts 
that  Heaven  is  a  place,  and  a  glorious  place,  and  that 
all  those  who  will  believe  on  Him  are  going  there. 
Listen  again  to  John  17:24,  “Father,  I  will  that 
they  also,  whom  thou  hast  given  me,  be  with  me 
where  I  am;  that  they  may  behold  my  glory  which 
thou  hast  given  me.”  If  there  is  anything  that  Jesus 
teaches  over  and  over  again,  and  that  is  therefore 
absolutely  certain,  because  there  is  no  possibility  of 
doubting  what  Jesus  taught  about  it,  it  is,  that  there 
is  a  Heaven,  and  that  Heaven  is  a  place,  and  that 
God  is  there  in  a  sense  that  He  is  nowhere  else,  and 
that  Jesus  is  now  there,  and  that  all  who  really  be¬ 
lieve  in  Him  are  to  be  there  some  day. 

2.  In  the  second  place,  It  is  certain  that  there  is 
a  Heaven ,  not  only  because  our  Lord  Jesus  says  so, 
but  also  because  those  who  have  been  unmistakably 
proven  to  have  been  inspired  of  God  say  so . 

Paul  says  so  in  II  Cor.  5 : 1  R.  V.,  “  For  we  know 
that  if  the  earthly  house  of  our  tabernacle  be  dis¬ 
solved,  we  have  a  building  from  God,  a  house  not 
made  with  hands,  eternal,  in  the  heavens J’  The 
“  house  of  God  ”  of  which  Paul  here  speaks,  refers, 
as  the  context  plainly  shows,  to  our  glorified  resur¬ 
rection  body,  the  body  made  in  the  likeness  of  our 
Lord’s  own  glorified  body  (Phil.  3:21  R.  V.).  And 
Paul  here  tells  us  that  that  body  is  not  only  “  eter¬ 
nal  ”  but  “  eternal,  in  the  heavens  ”  That  body  will 


THERE  IS  A  HEAVEN 


191 


exist  elsewhere  eternally,  and  where  that  body  will 
exist  eternally  is  "  in  the  heavens ” 

Peter  also  tells  us  that  there  is  a  Heaven,  and  that 
it  is  a  place,  in  I  Pet.  i :  3-5 :  “  Blessed  be  the  God 
and  father  of  our  Lord  Jesus  Christ,  who  according 
to  his  great  mercy  begat  us  again  into  a  living  hope 
by  the  resurrection  of  Jesus  Christ  from  the  dead, 
unto  an  inheritance  incorruptible,  and  undefiled,  and 
that  fadeth  not  away,  reserved  in  Heaven  for  you, 
who  by  the  power  of  God  are  guarded  through  faith 
unto  a  salvation  ready  to  be  revealed  in  the  last 
time.”  Here  Peter  tells  us  that  Heaven  is  a  place, 
and  that  in  that  place  there  is  an  “  inheritance  incor¬ 
ruptible,  and  undefiled,  and  that  fadeth  not  away,” 
securely  kept  there  for  all  those  who  are  themselves 
kept  by  the  power  of  God  through  faith  unto  that 
glorious  “  salvation  ready  to  be  revealed  in  the  last 
time.”  People  are  wondering  in  these  days  of  bank 
looting,  and  high-power  explosives,  and  Bolshevik 
uprisings,  where  they  can  store  their  possessions 
with  absolute  safety.  Well,  there  is  no  place  on  this 
earth  where  you  can  store  them  with  absolute  safety. 
Even  if  they  do  not  succeed  in  blowing  up  your  safe 
or  safety  deposit  vault,  you  may  die  any  day,  and 
then  you  cannot  get  at  your  possessions,  and  some 
one  else  will  get  them,  probably  the  lawyers.  But 
if  they  are  “reserved  in  Heaven  ”  they  are  abso¬ 
lutely  safe.  People  sometimes  want  to  know  if  you 
have  your  money  in  a  “  Federal  Reserve  Bank.” 
Better  have  it  in  the  Heavenly  Reserve  bank.  If  it 
is  there  not  only  can  “  neither  moth  nor  rust  corrupt 
nor  thieves  break  through  and  steal,”  but  further¬ 
more  there  is  no  power  either  in  earth  or  hell  to  rob 


192 


HOW  TO  BE  SAVED 


you  of  it.  It  is  absolutely  eternally  safe.  And 
what  a  glorious  inheritance  it  is,  “  incorruptible,  and 
undefiled,  and  that  fadeth  not  away.”  It  is  more 
specifically  described  in  Rom.  8:17,  “Heirs  of  God, 
and  joint-heirs  with  Christ,”  that  is,  heirs  of  all  that 
God  has  and  all  that  God  is.  Better  give  up  any¬ 
thing  and  everything  on  earth  and  get  Heaven,  than 
to  get  everything  that  you  can  get  on  earth,  great 
wealth,  beautiful  homes,  high-power  sedan  automo¬ 
biles,  diamonds  and  other  gems,  operas,  theatres, 
balls,  and  all  the  rest,  and  lose  Heaven.  Do  you 
know  how  I  feel  when  I  ride  by  the  palatial  homes 
of  some  of  our  very  rich  and  utterly  godless  mil¬ 
lionaires,  and  sometimes  enter  them?  I  do  not  have 
a  feeling  of  envy  at  all,  I  feel  a  great  pity;  so  rich 
to-day,  and  utter  paupers  to-morrow,  paupers  for  all 
eternity. 

The  author  of  the  Epistle  to  the  Hebrews  also 
teaches  that  there  is  a  Heaven,  and  that  it  is  a  place. 
It  makes  no  difference  whether  Paul  is  the  author 
of  this  Epistle  to  the  Hebrews  or  someone  else,  the 
book  in  either  case  is  inspired  of  God.  In  either 
case  it  bears  the  marks  of  its  inspiration  on  every 
page.  It  differs  radically  from  all  the  other  litera¬ 
ture,  outside  the  Bible,  of  that  time  or  any  other 
time.  It  has  the  unmistakable  inspired  flavour. 
Listen  to  what  God  says  in  Heb.  8:1,  “  Now  in  the 
things  which  we  are  saying,  the  chief  point  is  this : 
We  have  such  an  high  priest  (that  is,  of  course, 
Jesus  Christ)  who  sat  down  on  the  right  hand  of  the 
throne  of  the  Majesty  in  the  heavens”  God  here 
teaches  us  that  there  is  a  Heaven  (or  Heavens), 
that  it  is  a  place,  that  His  Own  throne  is  there. 


THERE  IS  A  HEAVEN 


193 


and  that  Jesus  is  there.  Elsewhere  in  this  same  book 
He  tells  us  that  we  are  going  there,  too,  if  we  are 
Christ’s.  He  tells  us  that  Christ  has  entered  Heaven 
as  “a  forerunner”  (Chapter  6:20),  that  is  He  has 
gone  there  before  us  and  we  are  to  follow  after. 

It  is  absolutely  certain  then  that  there  is  a  Heaven 
because  Jesus  Christ  says  so,  and  because  men  who 
beyond  an  honest  doubt  were  inspired  of  God,  men 
through  whom  God  Himself  spoke,  say  so.  That 
settles  it.  As  I  stated  last  night,  we  know  absolutely 
nothing  about  the  eternal  future  but  what  God  has 
been  pleased  to  tell  us  through  His  Son  Jesus  Christ 
and  through  His  inspired  servants,  the  writers  of  the 
New  Testament.  That  is  absolutely  sure,  all  else  is 
mere  guesswork  and  baseless  speculation.  What  the 
philosophers  or  the  speculative  theologians  or  the 
scientists  guess  about  Heaven  or  hell  is  of  no  more 
value  that  what  an  inmate  of  an  imbecile  asylum 
guesses  about  them.  Here  the  philosophers  and 
scientists  are  entirely  out  of  their  sphere.  A 
story  is  told  of  a  distinguished  man  of  sci¬ 
ence  who  had  to  cross  a  ferry  in  a  rowboat. 
As  the  man  at  the  oars  pulled  him  across,  the  scien¬ 
tist  said  to  him,  “  Do  you  know  Astronomy?” 
“  No,”  replied  the  rugged  oarsman,  “  I  do  not.” 
“  Well,  then,”  said  the  man  of  science,  “  a  quarter  of 
your  life  is  gone.”  “  Do  you  know  anything  about 
geology?”  “No.”  “Then  one-half  of  your  life  is 
gone.”  “  Do  you  know  anything  about  biology  ?  ” 
“  No.”  “  Then  three-quarters  of  your  life  are  gone.” 
Just  then  the  boat  struck  a  snag  and  upset.  As  they 
plunged  into  the  water  the  oarsman  cried,  “  Do  you 
know  how  to  swim?”  “No.”  “Well  then  your 


194 


HOW  TO  BE  SAVED 


whole  life  is  gone,”  and  the  ferryman  struck  out  for 
shore,  but  the  great  scientist  drowned.  He  was  out 
of  his  element  And  when  mere  scientists  and 
philosophers  begin  speculating  about  the  eternal 
future,  they  are  out  of  their  element,  and  they  floun¬ 
der  around  and  drown,  unless  they  will  let  some  one 
who  knows  his  Bible  pull  them  ashore.  What  the 
scientist  or  philosopher  speculates  about  Heaven  or 
argues  about  Heaven  is  pure  and  simple  guessing, 
and  absolutely  worthless:  what  God  says  through 
His  Son,  and  through  the  inspired  writers  of  the 
Bible,  is  absolutely  sure.  It  is  absolutely  sure  then 
that  there  is  a  Heaven,  and  that  Heaven  is  a  place, 
and  that  it  is  a  wonderful  place,  and  that  God  is 
there,  and  Christ  is  there,  and  many  of  us  are  going 
there,  and  we  can  all  go  there  if  we  so  desire. 

II.  What  Kind  of  a  Place  is  Heaven? 

Now  what  sort  of  a  place  is  Heaven?  Some  think 
that  we  know  nothing  about  that,  that  it  is  all  guess¬ 
work,  and  they  quote  I  Cor.  2 : 9  to  prove  it,  “  Eye 
hath  not  seen,  nor  ear  heard,  neither  have  entered 
into  the  heart  of  man,  the  things  which  God  hath 
prepared  for  them  that  love  him.”  But  they  stop 
too  soon.  They  should  quote  the  next  verse,  “But 
God  hath  revealed  them  unto  us  by  his  Spirit:  for 
the  Spirit  searcheth  all  things,  yea  the  deep  things 
of  God.”  We  know  nothing  about  Heaven  but  what 
God  has  revealed,  but  God  has  been  pleased  to  re¬ 
veal  a  great  deal  about  Heaven.  I  think  very  few 
Christians  realize  how  much  God  has  told  us  in  the 
Bible  about  Heaven.  I  think  even  very  few  Bible 
scholars  realize  how  much  God  has  told  us  about 


THERE  IS  A  HEAVEN 


195 


Heaven.  I  have  studied  this  subject  more  or  less 
for  many  years,  but  when  I  took  it  up  again  last 
Monday  night,  I  confess  that  I  was  surprised  to  find 
so  much  about  Heaven  in  the  Bible.  What  God, 
Who  made  Heaven  and  Who  lives  there,  has  told 
us  about  Heaven  in  the  Bible,  what  God  has  re¬ 
vealed  to  us  about  Heaven  through  His  Son  in  the 
Bible,  is  not  only  very  interesting  but  immensely 
cheering,  and  calculated  to  awaken  in  every  wise  and 
sensible  heart  an  intense  desire  to  go  there.  But 
we  have  not  time  to  go  into  that  at  length  to-night. 
Just  this  hasty  summary  without  any  attempt  to 
cite  the  passages  or  to  expound  at  length : 

1.  Heaven  is  a  place  of  matchless,  and  to  our 
present  minds,  inconceivable,  external,  material,  vis¬ 
ible  beauty.  I  love  beauty  and  it  has  been  my  good 
fortune  to  see  a  very  large  share  of  the  most  re¬ 
nowned  beauty  spots  of  Europe,  Asia,  Australasia, 
and  America.  I  have  sat  for  hours  just  drinking 
in  the  beauty  of  some  of  these  places.  But  nothing 
I  have  ever  seen  in  Japan  or  China  or  India  or 
Australia  or  New  Zealand  or  in  the  Yosemite  or  the 
Grand  Canyon  of  the  Colorado,  or  in  the  Alps,  or 
in  the  Rockies,  or  on  Loch  Lomond,  or  at  Ben 
Nevis,  or  anywhere  else,  can  be  compared  for  one 
moment  to  the  beauty  and  majesty  and  sublimity  and 
glory  of  that  land  beyond  the  shadows — the  peerless 
City  of  God. 

2.  Heaven  is  a  land  of  indescribable  harmony, 
and  melody,  and  music.  They  have  a  choir  of  one 
hundred  million  voices  there,  (Rev.  5:11),  and 
every  voice  sweeter  and  richer  than  Caruso’s,  and 


196 


HOW  TO  BE  SAVED 


no  orchestra  of  earth  can  match  those  “  harpers  harp¬ 
ing  with  their  harps.” 

3.  Heaven  is  a  place  of  countless  wealth.  Every 
inhabitant  is  a  multi-millionaire,  “  heirs  of  God,  and 
joint-heirs  with  Jesus  Christ”  (Rom.  8:17). 

4.  Heaven  is  a  place  unmarred  by  Sin ,  where 
God’s  will  is  perfectly  done  by  all ,  and  where  “  noth¬ 
ing  that  defileth  ”  mind  or  affections  or  will  shall 
ever  enter. 

5.  Heaven  is  a  place  where  there  is  no  trace  of 
sickness  or  twinge  of  pain ,  and  where  Death  never 
enters ,  and  zvhere  no  tear  is  ever  shed. 

6.  Heaven  is  a  place  of  highest ,  holiest  and  most 
ennobling  companionships. 

7.  Heaven  is  the  place  zvhere  God  is,  and  zvhere 
His  son,  Jesus  Christ,  is,  and  where  we  shall  be  with 
Christ  and  with  God  the  Father,  and  we  “ shall  see 
his  face  ”  (Rev.  22 :  4).  Oh !  to  see  the  face  of  God ! 
Moses  wanted  to  see  the  face  of  God,  but  was  told 
that  no  man  could  see  His  face  and  live  (Ex.  33 : 20). 
But  with  the  strength  of  our  resurrection  bodies  and 
perfectly  redeemed  spirits  we  can  gaze  and  gaze  and 
gaze  upon  that  wondrous  face  of  God,  and  live.  I 
wonder,  if  when  God  took  Moses  up  into  Mount 
Nebo,  to  die,  He  did  not  let  Moses  have  his  prayer 
at  last  and  see  His  face  and  then  die,  die  a  death  of 
immeasurable  ecstasy.  But  in  that  world  we  shall 
see  His  face,  and  live !  and  be  satisfied !  Oh !  how 
profoundly  significant  are  the  words  of  the  Psalmist 
in  Ps.  17:15,  as  rendered  in  the  Revised  Version, 
“  I  shall  be  satisfied,  when  I  awake,  with  beholding 
thy  form.” 


THERE  IS  A  HEAVEN 


197 


III.  Anyone  Who  Wishes  to,  Can  Spend 
Eternity  in  Heaven 

Now  just  a  few  words  on  the  last  part  of  our  sub¬ 
ject:  Anyone  who  wishes  to,  can  spend  eter¬ 
nity  in  Heaven.  Why  do  I  say  that?  Because 
our  Lord  Jesus  says  so.  He  says  so  in  our  first 
text.  He  says,  “  Whither  I  go,  ye  know  the  way.” 
And  then  Thomas  said  unto  Him,  “  Lord,  we  know 
not  whither  thou  goest ;  how  know  we  the  way  ?  ” 
Then  Jesus  replied,  “I  am  the  way,  and  the  truth, 
and  the  life :  no  man  cometh  unto  the  Father,  but  by 
me.”  Here  He  says  that  He  Himself  is  the  Way  to 
Heaven,  and  anyone  who  takes  Him  takes  the  way 
to  Heaven,  and  if  you  really  take  Him  and  start  to 
Heaven  you  are  bound  to  get  there.  He  says  also 
in  John  10:9,  “I  am  the  door:  by  me  if  any  man 
enter  in  he  shall  be  saved.”  “  If  any  man,”  mind 
you,  no  exceptions.  The  poorest  are  as  welcome  as 
the  richest,  the  most  ignorant  are  as  welcome  as  the 
wisest,  the  vilest  sinner  is  as  welcome  as  the  finest 
saint.  “If  any  man.”  Come  along,  friends. 

Peter  also  tells  us  the  same  thing  in  our  last  text, 
I  Pet.  1 : 3-5,  “  Blessed  be  the  God  and  father  of  our 
Lord  Jesus  Christ,  who  according  to  his  great  mercy 
begat  us  again  into  a  living  hope  by  the  resurrection 
of  Jesus  Christ  from  the  dead,  unto  an  inheritance 
incorruptible,  and  undefiled,  and  that  fadeth  not 
away,  reserved  in  Heaven  for  you,  who  by  the  power 
of  God  are  guarded  through  faith  unto  salvation 
ready  to  be  revealed  in  the  last  time.”  That  is  all, 
“  kept  by  the  power  of  God  through  faith.”  It  is 
not  a  question  of  our  puny  strength,  but  of  His  Al- 


198 


HOW  TO  BE  SAVED 


mighty  strength,  given  to  all  who  just  believe  on 
His  Son.  Believe  in  Jesus  Christ ,  that  is  all.  All 
God’s  children  are  certainly  going  to  spend  eternity 
in  the  Father’s  House,  and  Jno.  1:12  tells  us  how 
to  become  children  of  God,  “as  many  as  received 
him,  to  them  gave  he  the  right  to  become  children 
of  God,  even  to  them  that  believe  on  his  name.” 
Just  accept  Jesus,  that  is  all.  Accept  Him  as  your 
personal  Saviour,  the  One  whom  God  Himself  tells 
us  bore  all  your  sins  in  His  own  body  on  the  cross, 
and  trust  God  to  forgive  all  your  sins  because  the 
Lord  Jesus  died  in  your  place.  Accept  Him  as  your 
Risen  Saviour  who  now  lives  in  Heaven,  and  who 
has  “  all  power  in  Heaven  and  on  earth,”  and  there¬ 
fore  has  power  to  keep  you  every  day  and  hour,  and 
just  trust  Him  to  do  it.  Accept  Him  as  your  Lord 
and  Master  to  whom  you  surrender  the  entire  con¬ 
trol  of  your  thoughts  and  life,  and  confess  Him  as 
your  Lord  before  the  world,  and  you  will  spend 
eternity  in  Heaven.  Refuse  to  do  that,  or  neglect 
to  do  that,  and  you  will  spend  eternity  in  hell. 
There  is  a  Heaven,  and  whosoever  wishes  to  can 
spend  eternity  there.  Do  you  wish  to?  It  is  up  to 
each  one  of  you  to-night  to  say  for  yourself  whether 
you  will  spend  eternity  in  Heaven  or  eternity  in  hell. 
Which  do  you  choose?  Oh!  unless  you  are  a  poor, 
blinded  fool  you  will  choose  to  spend  eternity  in 
Heaven.  Then  accept  the  Lord  Jesus  Christ  right 
now.  You  may  say,  “  I  do  not  want  to  do  it  right 
now,  but  I  will  do  it  some  future  time.”  Take  no 
chances.  Hell  is  too  awful  to  take  any  chance  of 
going  there,  and  Heaven  is  too  glorious  to  take  any 
chance  of  missing  it.  There  is  only  one  thing  for 


THERE  IS  A  HEAVEN 


199 


any  man  or  woman  who  has  a  least  spark  of  wisdom 
left  and  who  has  not  already  accepted  Jesus  Christ, 
to  do,  and  that  is  to  accept  Jesus  Christ  and  confess 
Him  to-night. 


XIII 


THE  DAY  OF  GOLDEN  OPPORTUNITY 

“  The  Holy  Ghost  saith,  to-day.” — Hebrew  3 : 7. 

THE  Day  of  Golden  Opportunity  is  To-day. 
Golden  opportunities,  opportunities  of  price¬ 
less  worth  are  open  to  every  one  of  us 
to-day.  But  “  to-morrow  ”  has  no  sure  promise 
for  any  one  of  us.  “  The  Holy  Ghost  saith. 
To-day,”  and  Conscience  also  cries  “  To-day,” 
and  the  voice  of  Reason  and  the  voice  of  History 
and  the  voice  of  Experience  unite  in  one  loud  chorus 
and  shout,  “  To-day.”  Only  the  voices  of  lassitude 
and  laziness  and  folly  murmur,  “  To-morrow.”  The 
Holy  Ghost  is  every  calling  “  To-day.”  Men  in  their 
folly  are  forever  saying,  “  To-morrow.” 

When  the  frightful  plague  of  frogs  came  upon 
Pharaoh  of  old  and  upon  his  people,  Pharaoh  in  his 
terror  sent  for  Moses  and  Aaron  and  said,  “  Entreat 
Jehovah,  that  he  take  away  the  frogs  from  me,  and 
my  people,  and  I  will  let  the  people  go,  that  they 
may  sacrifice  unto  Jehovah”  (Ex.  8:8).  Moses  re¬ 
plied,  “  Against  what  time  shall  I  entreat  for  thee, 
and  for  thy  servants,  and  for  thy  people,  that  the 
frogs  be  destroyed  from  thee  and  thy  houses  and 
remain  in  the  river  only?”  ’One  would  naturally 

suppose  Pharaoh  would  have  answered,  “At  once,” 

200 


THE  DAY  OF  GOLDEN  OPPORTUNITY  201 


but  Pharaoh,  like  many  another  king,  played  the  fool 
and  answered,  “  To-morrow  ”  (Ex.  8:9,  10).  Men 
show  a  similar  folly  and  often  a  greater  folly  in 
these  days.  When  urged  to  forsake  sin  with  its 
miseries  and  degradation  and  perils  and  turn  to 
Christ  with  the  joy  and  peace,  and  ennobling  of  our 
character  and  security  that  He  gives,  they  answer, 
“Yes,  I  think  I  will.”  “When?”  “Oh,  to-mor¬ 
row.”  But  “  the  Holy  Ghost  saith,  To-day.” 

A  poor  wretch  came  into  my  office  one  day.  He 
had  been  drinking  and  drinking  had  brought  misery 
into  his  heart  and  ruin  into  his  life.  I  asked,  “  Will 
you  quit  drinking  and  turn  to  Jesus  Christ?  ”  “  Oh,” 
he  exclaimed,  “  there  is  nothing  else  that  I  can  do, 
I  will.”  “Will  you  do  it  now?”  He  hung  his  head, 
and  murmured,  “  not  now,  to-morrow.”  But  “  the 
Holy  Ghost  saith,  To-day.”  To-morrow  is  the 
devil’s  day  and  the  fool’s  day.  To-day  is  God’s  day, 
and  the  wise  man’s  day. 

I  wish  to  give  you  to-night  some  conclusive  and 
unanswerable  reasons  why  every  man  and  woman  in 
this  auditorium  who  makes  any  pretensions  to  in¬ 
telligence  and  common  sense  should  not  only  accept 
the  Lord  Jesus  as  his  Lord  and  Saviour,  but  should 
accept  Him  here  before  he  leaves  this  building  to¬ 
night,  if  he  has  not  already  done  it.  What  I  want 
to  get  is  action,  immediate  action,  intelligent  and 
wise  action.  And  the  only  action  that  is  intelligent 
and  wise  for  anyone  who  has  not  already  accepted 
Jesus  Christ  is  to  accept  Him  right  here  to-night. 
Resolutions  to  do  the  right  thing  and  the  wise  thing 
at  some  indefinite  time  in  the  future  are  of  no  value 


202 


HOW  TO  BE  SAVED 


whatever.  God’s  time  is  now.  “  The  Holy  Ghost 
saith,  To-day.” 

I.  Because  the  Lord  Jesus  Brings  Peace  to  the 
Tormenting  Conscience 
i.  The  first  reason  why  every  man  and  woman 
in  this  auditorium  who  has  not  already  accepted 
Jesus  Christ  should  not  only  accept  Him  but  accept 
Him  to-night,  is,  Because  the  Lord  Jesus  brings 
peace  to  the  tormenting  conscience  as  soon  as  He 
is  accepted,  and  the  really  wise  man  will  not  only 
desire  that  peace  but  desire  it  just  as  soon  as  he  can 
get  it.  Wherever  there  is  sin  there  will  be  an  ac¬ 
cusing  conscience.  And  we  “  all  have  sinned.”  If 
any  man  has  sinned  and  his  conscience  does  not  ac¬ 
cuse  him  and  torment  him  he  has  sunken  very  low, 
very  low.  There  are,  of  course,  different  degrees 
of  torment  of  conscience  and  different  kinds  of  tor¬ 
ment  of  conscience.  With  some  the  pain  is  sharp 
and  piercing,  with  some  it  is  dull  and  grinding,  but 
there  is  pain,  there  is  unrest,  there  is  no  peace  in  the 
heart  where  sin  has  entered  until  that  sin  has  been 
forgiven.  But  Jesus  Christ  gives  peace  to  the  most 
agonized  conscience.  Men  and  women  have  come  to 
me  in  all  degrees  of  misery  over  the  memory  of 
some  sin  that  they  have  committed  and  I  have 
pointed  them  to  the  Lord  Jesus,  and  everyone  who 
has  really  gone  to  Him  has  found  rest.  I  could  not 
tell  how  many  men  and  women  have  come  to  me 
who  were  driven  to  the  very  verge  of  hopeless  de¬ 
spair  by  the  accusations  of  their  conscience  and  were 
contemplating  self-destruction  in  the  hope  of  thus 
getting  away  from  their  mental  agony.  But  I  led 


THE  DAY  OF  GOLDEN  OPPORTUNITY  203 


them  to  Jesus  Christ,  and  now  they  have  rest  and 
the  peace  of  God  that  passeth  all  understanding. 

A  young  man  came  to  me  one  Sunday  morning  in 
Chicago  in  awful  agony.  He  had  sinned  grievously 
and  was  reaping  the  harvest.  He  was  contemplat¬ 
ing  all  sorts  of  mad  expedients  to  escape  the  inevi¬ 
table  consequences  of  his  sin.  I  pointed  him  to  the 
Son  of  God  and  he  accepted  Him.  Afterwards  he 
brought  to  me  his  companion  in  sin.  She  was  fully 
determined  on  a  desperate  deed  that  was  likely  to 
land  her  in  prison  or  in  the  cemetery.  I  plead  with 
her  and  pointed  her  to  the  real  cure,  to  the  Saviour. 
When  she  left  me  she  was  still  undecided  as  to  what 
she  would  do.  She  afterwards  decided  and  decided 
right.  One  night  a  long  time  afterwards,  as  I  was 
going  down  the  back  stairs  of  the  Moody  church  to 
the  inquiry  room,  a  young,  happy  faced  woman 
stopped  me  and  said,  “  I  want  to  thank  you  for  what 
you  did  for  me,  and  for  my  husband  and  for  my 
child.”  I  did  not  recognize  her  for  a  moment,  and 
she  said,  “  I  am  the  young  woman  who  came  to 
you,”  and  she  explained  the  circumstances.  It  was 
the  woman  who  had  contemplated  the  destruction  of 
her  child,  and  her  own  destruction  for  time  and  for 
eternity.  But  she  had  found  peace  in  Jesus  Christ. 
Men  and  women  with  tormenting  consciences,  and 
with  uneasy,  restless  hearts,  there  is  rest  for  you  in 
Jesus  Christ.  If  you  are  wise  you  will  not  only  find 
it,  but  you  will  find  it  to-night.  “  The  Holy  Ghost 
saith,  To-day.”  You  need  not  spend  even  one  more 
day  or  one  more  hour  in  the  agony  of  your  accus¬ 
ing,  tormenting  conscience. 


204: 


HOW  TO  BE  SAVED 


II.  Because  Jesus  Christ  Brings  Joy  Unspeak¬ 
able  and  Full  of  Glory  to  Those  Who 

Accept  Him 

The  second  reason  why  every  man  and  woman  in 
this  auditorium  to-night  who  has  not  already  ac¬ 
cepted  Jesus  Christ  should  not  only  accept  Him  but 
accept  Him  to-night  is,  Because  Jesus  Christ  brings 
joy  unspeakable  and  full  of  glory,  a  joy  to  which  the 
joy  of  this  world  is  as  nothing  in  comparison,  to 
every  one  who  accepts  Him  as  soon  as  they  really 
accept  Him  and  confess  Him.  Any  really  wise  man 
will  not  only  desire  this  joy  but  desire  it  at  once. 
I  for  one  not  only  wish  the  best  I  can  get,  but  I 
wish  it  as  quickly  as  I  can  get  it.  The  joy  that  is 
in  Jesus  Christ  is  the  very  best  joy  one  can  get. 
There  is  not  a  particle  of  doubt  about  that.  Ask 
anyone  who  has  ever  tried  the  world  and  has  then 
really  tried  Jesus  Christ.  You  cannot  find  one  single 
man  or  woman  who  has  really  tried  the  joy  that 
there  is  in  Christ,  anyone  who  has  really  put  his 
trust  in  Him  as  his  personal  Saviour  and  unre¬ 
servedly  surrendered  to  Him  as  his  Lord  and  Mas¬ 
ter,  who  will  not  tell  you  that  the  world  has  no  joy 
for  a  moment  comparable  with  that  joy  which  is 
found  in  Jesus  Christ.  No  matter  how  rare  their 
opportunities  may  have  been  for  enjoying  the  world, 
they  will  tell  you  without  the  slightest  hesitation 
that  the  joy  that  one  finds  in  Christ  is  incomparably 
greater  and  finer  and  more  satisfying  than  any  joy 
the  world  can  give.  There  are  millions  of  witnesses 
to  this  fact,  and  their  testimony  is  absolutely  unani¬ 
mous.  I  know  the  joy  that  comes  from  wealth>  I 
know  the  joy  that  comes  from  the  theatre,  I  know 


THE  DAY  OF  GOLDEN  OPPORTUNITY  205 


the  joy  that  comes  from  the  dance,  from  the  card- 
table,  and  the  joy  that  comes  from  the  race  course, 
and  the  joy  that  comes  from  the  wine  supper,  and 
so  on  down  to  the  end  of  the  catalogue  of  this 
world’s  joys.  I  know  also  the  joy  that  comes  from 
literature  and  from  art,  the  joy  that  comes  from 
music,  from  science,  from  philosophy  and  from 
travel.  I  know  practically  every  joy  that  this  world 
has  to  give,  but  I  say  to  you  to-night  that  the  joy 
of  all  these  put  together  is  nothing  to  the  joy  un¬ 
speakable  and  full  of  glory  that  comes  from  a  gen¬ 
uine  acceptance  of  Jesus  Christ  as  our  Saviour,  and 
a  whole-hearted  surrender  to  Him  as  our  Lord,  and 
a  constant  and  open  confession  of  Him  before  the 
world,  and  from  receiving  the  Holy  Spirit  Whom 
He  gives  to  those  who  do  thus  accept  Him  and  fully 
surrender  to  Him  and  confess  Him.  Men  and 
women  if  you  wish  the  highest,  deepest,  purest,  and 
most  abounding  joy,  immeasurably  the  most  satis¬ 
fying  joy  that  is  to  be  known  not  only  in  the  life 
which  is  to  come  but  in  the  life  which  now  is,  not 
only  come  to  Jesus  Christ  but  come  to-night.  “  The 
Holy  Ghost  saith,  To-day.” 

III.  Because  Jesus  Christ  Brings  Deliverance 
From  tue  Power  of  Sin 
The  third  reason  why  every  man  and  woman 
in  this  auditorium  who  has  not  already  accepted 
Jesus  Christ  should  not  only  accept  Him  but  accept 
Him  to-night,  is,  Because  Jesus  Christ  brings  deliv¬ 
erance  from  the  power  of  sin ,  and  any  wise  man  or 
woman  not  only  wishes  deliverance  from  the  power 
of  sin  but  wishes  it  as  soon  as  he  can  get  it.  There 


206 


HOW  TO  BE  SAVED 


is  no  other  form  of  slavery  known  to  man  so  de¬ 
grading  and  so  wretched  as  the  slavery  of  sin. 
Better  far  be  the  poor  black  slave  of  the  most  brutal 
nigger  driver  the  South  ever  knew  than  to  be  the 
slave  of  rum,  or  the  slave  of  lust,  or  the  slave  of 
bad  temper,  or  the  slave  of  dope,  or  the  slave  of 
an  impure  imagination,  or  the  slave  of  greed  for 
gold,  or  the  slave  of  any  other  form  of  sin.  Poor 
old  Uncle  Tom,  groaning  in  his  cabin  after  the  cruel 
blows  of  the  brutal  Legree,  is  not  so  pitiable  an 
object  as  yonder  wretch,  poor  or  rich,  who  is  under 
the  lash  of  appetite  or  of  lust  or  of  dope  or  of  any 
other  sin.  But  there  is  freedom  right  at  hand,  right 
now.  Jesus  Christ  sets  men  free  from  sin  in  all  its 
form.  He  sets  men  free  who  have  been  slaves  for 
years.  He  sets  them  free  in  a  moment.  Any  sin¬ 
ner  here  to-night  can  find  deliverance  in  Christ  from 
any  sin,  can  find  it  to-night.  What  Jesus  said  when 
He  was  here  on  earth  is  just  as  true  to-day. 
“  Everyone  that  committeth  sin  is  the  slave  of  sin  ” 
(Jno.  8:34).  But  thank  God  it  is  also  as  true 
to-day  as  when  He  said  it  that,  “  If,  therefore,  the 
Son  shall  make  you  free,  ye  shall  be  free  indeed  ” 
(Jno.  8:36).  Any  man  or  woman  here  who  has 
a  spark  of  intelligence  left  will  not  only  wish  deliv¬ 
erance  from  sin  and  its  awful  bondage,  but  wish  it 
at  once.  What  would  you  have  thought  of  any  old- 
time  black  slave  of  a  vile  and  cruel  master  who  had 
been  offered  freedom  and  answered,  “  Yes,  I  wish 
liberty.  My  bondage  has  been  awful.  But  I  don’t 
want  the  freedom  just  yet.  I  will  wait  until  next 
year.  I  will  wait  until  next  month.  I  will  wait 
until  next  week.  I  will  wait  until  to-morrow.” 


'  THE  DAY  OF  GOLDEN  OPPORTUNITY  207 

You  would  exclaim,  “  What  a  fool!  ”  But  he  would 
not  be  so  colossal  a  fool  as  you  are  when  you  say, 
“Yes,  I  do  wish  deliverance  from  the  power  of  sin,” 
and  then  add,  “  but  not  to-night,  to-morrow.”  Oh, 
men,  listen,  “  The  Holy  Ghost  saith.  To-day.” 

IV.  Because  Jesus  Christ  Brings  Beauty  of 

Character 

The  fourth  reason  why  every  man  and  woman 
who  has  not  already  accepted  Jesus  Christ  should 
not  only  accept  Him  but  accept  Him  to-night,  is, 
Because  Jesus  Christ  brings  beauty  of  character, 
and  every  wise  man  and  woman  will  not  only  desire 
beauty  of  character,  but  desire  it  just  as  soon  as 
they  can  get  it.  I  sometimes  notice  advertisements 
in  the  papers  that  read,  “  The  Secret  of  Beauty.” 
I  can  tell  you  the  secret  of  beauty,  men  and  women, 
the  secret  of  permanent,  indestructible  beauty.  It 
is  Jesus  Christ  in  the  heart.  He  not  only  beautifies 
the  face.  He  beautifies  the  soul.  He  makes  over  the 
soul  that  trusts  in  Him  into  His  own  glorious  like¬ 
ness.  I  have  seen  some  of  the  foulest  men  and 
women  I  ever  knew  made  over  into  the  fairest;  and 
it  was  Jesus  Christ  Who  did  it. 

Sam  Hadley  of  the  Water  Street  Mission,  New 
York,  was  the  friend  of  all  men  who  were  down  and 
out.  He  was  always  on  the  lookout  for  an  oppor¬ 
tunity  to  help  some  man  who  was  about  as  bad  as 
they  make  them  onto  his  feet,  and  to  lead  him  to 
Christ  and  to  thus  get  the  man  saved.  A  man  said 
to  Mr.  Hadley  one  day,  “  I  have  a  friend  whom  I 
wish  you  would  take  an  interest  in.”  Sam  Hadley 
asked,  “Who  is  he?”  “He  is  Bowery  Ike.” 


208 


HOW  TO  BE  SAVED 


"  Well/’  said  Hadley,  “  what  is  he  anyhow  ?  ”  The 
man  replied,  “  He  is  a  crook.  He  makes  his  living 
by  stealing  and  picking  pockets  and  all  that  sort  of 
thing.  Just  at  present  he  is  on  Blackwell’s  Island, 
serving  a  term  there.  You  can  find  him  more 
easily  now  than  usual.”  Sam  Hadley  went  over  to 
Blackwell’s  Island  and  looked  up  Bowery  Ike,  and 
found  him;  for  he  could  not  get  away,  he  was  be¬ 
hind  the  bars.  Bowery  Ike  had  no  use  for  Sam 
Hadley,  except  when  he  got  out  he  came  around 
to  Sam  to  get  a  little  money  to  get  a  new  suit  of 
clothes.  But  he  was  soon  off  to  the  Island  again. 
Every  time  he  would  come  out  of  confinement  he 
would  go  around  to  see  Hadley,  but  as  soon  as  he 
got  on  his  feet  again  he  would  go  back  to  his 
crooked  work.  Sam  Hadley  followed  Bowery  Ike 
for  seven  long  years,  and  one  day  at  the  end  of  the 
seventh  year  Bowery  Ike  was  thoroughly  sick  and 
tired  of  sin,  and  this  time  not  only  came  to  Sam 
Hadley  but  came  to  Jesus  Christ,  and  Jesus  Christ 
opened  His  arms  and  took  Bowery  Ike  in.  After 
Bowery  Ike  had  been  saved  about  a  year,  Sam 
wrote  me,  saying,  “  Mr.  Torrey,  I  have  a  man  who 
wants  to  study  out  at  your  school.  They  used  to 
call  him  Bowery  Ike.  His  right  name  is  Ira  Sny¬ 
der.  We  believe  in  him.  He  has  been  a  tough  cus¬ 
tomer.  He  has  been  a  hard  case.  But  he  is  saved 
and  we  believe  God  wants  to  use  him.  Will  you 
take  him  ?  ”  “  Dear  Sam,”  I  replied,  “  I  will  take 

anybody  you  recommend.”  He  wrote  back,  “  I 
recommend  him.”  Then  I  wrote,  “  Send  him  on.” 
And  Bowery  Ike  (Ira  Snyder)  came.  Listen,  men, 
though  that  man  had  been  a  crook  from  his  boyhood, 


THE  DAY  OF  GOLDEN  OPPORTUNITY  209 


for  he  commenced  picking  pockets  when  a  little  lad, 
though  he  had  been  a  crook  nearly  all  his  life, 
he  became  one  of  the  most  beautiful  Christians  I 
have  ever  met  in  all  my  life.  And  I  say  to  you 
people  to-night  I  have  known  thieves  who  have  come 
to  Christ,  burglars  who  have  come  to  Christ,  train 
robbers  and  bank  robbers  who  have  come  to  Christ, 
I  have  known  harlots,  and  murderers  and  people 
guilty  of  every  kind  of  crime  I  ever  heard  of,  who 
have  come  to  Christ  and  have  become  some  of  the 
loveliest  Christians  I  have  ever  known.  Yes,  some 
of  the  men  and  women  who  were  once  down  in  the 
deepest  depths  of  sin.  But  to  come  back  to  Ira  Sny¬ 
der,  Bowery  Ike.  He  came  on  to  Chicago.  He 
stayed  with  us  about  a  year,  a  little  over  a  year. 
One  night  he  said  to  me,  “  I  want  to  walk  home 
with  you  and  have  a  little  talk  with  you.”  On  the 
way  to  my  home  he  said,  “  I  made  a  little  visit  down 
in  New  York  a  few  weeks  ago.  I  think  they  need 
me  in  New  York.  I  have  loved  it  in  Chicago,  I 
would  like  to  stay  on,  but  I  believe  they  need  me 
in  New  York.  I  have  written  Mr.  Hadley  that  I 
am  ready  to  go  back  to  New  York  and  help  in  the 
work.”  A  few  days  after  this  Ira  Snyder  was 
taken  down  with  the  influenza,  a  slight  attack,  not 
a  very  serious  case,  but  he  went  to  bed  with  it. 
They  did  not  think  he  was  very  ill.  But  as  I  was 
leaving  the  dining  table  one  night  the  maid  told  me 
that  Mr.  Hunter,  who  was  one  of  my  assistants 
there  at  that  time,  as  he  is  now  here,  wished  to  see 
me.  I  met  Mr.  Hunter  and  he  said,  “  Mr.  Torrey, 
Ira  Snyder  is  dead.”  I  said,  “  What,  John?  You 
don’t  mean  Ira  Snyder?”  We  had  another  man  at 


210 


HOW  TO  BE  SAVED 


the  Institute  at  the  same  time  whose  name  was 
much  the  same,  and  who  was  very  ill  at  that  time, 
too,  and  I  thought  Mr.  Hunter  must  mean  him. 
“You  don’t  mean  Ira  Snyder,”  I  said,  “you  must 
mean  So-and-So,”  naming  the  other  man.  “  No,” 
Mr.  Hunter  said.  “Mr.  Torrey,  Ira  Snyder  is 
dead.  He  died  very  suddenly  about  an  hour  ago.” 
I  asked,  “Where  is  he,  John?”  “He  is  over  at 
the  undertaker’s.  They  have  prepared  him  for  his 
burial  and  have  placed  him  in  his  coffin.  They  are 
going  to  have  the  services  to-morrow,  and  I  thought 
I  should  come  to  tell  you  to-night.”  “  That  was 
right,  John,”  I  replied,  “let  us  go  over.”  We  went 
to  the  undertaker’s,  which  was  not  far  away,  and 
walked  into  the  parlours.  And  there  in  a  beautiful 
coffin  lay  Ira  Snyder.  When  I  looked  down  into 
that  face,  one  of  the  noblest  faces  I  have  ever  looked 
into  in  my  life,  I  will  tell  you  what  I  did,  I  could 
not  help  it,  I  broke  down,  and,  leaning  over,  I 
kissed  Ira  Snyder’s  beautiful  face  as  he  lay  there 
in  his  coffin.  Yes,  friends.  Bowery  Ike  had  been  a 
crook  before  he  became  a  Christian,  but  by  the 
power  of  Jesus  Christ  in  his  heart  he  became  one 
of  the  loveliest  Christians  I  ever  knew  in  my  life. 
I  don’t  think  my  heart  ever  ached  over  anybody  out¬ 
side  my  own  family  as  it  did  over  Ira  Snyder,  who 
was  formerly  a  pickpocket,  a  burglar,  and  every¬ 
thing  that  was  bad,  but  who  in  his  lost  and  ruined 
condition  came  to  Jesus  and  the  heart  of  Jesus  was 
big  enough  to  take  him  in  a.nd  Jesus  came  into  his 
heart  and  transformed  him  into  His  own  likeness. 
The  Lord  Jesus  is  doing  that  sort  of  thing  every 
day. 


THE  DAY  OF  GOLDEN  OPPORTUNITY  211 


And  the  Lord  Jesus  is  also  taking  others  who  are 
not  so  foul,  who  indeed  the  world  thinks  fair,  and 
He  is  making  them  immeasurably  fairer.  It  is 
Jesus  and  Jesus  only  who  makes  truly  lovely  char¬ 
acters.  Ah,  men  and  women,  do  you  not  wish  to 
be  fair?  Not  only  fair  in  the  eyes  of  man,  but 
fair  in  the  eyes  of  God?  You  may  be.  It  is  Jesus, 
work  to  make  you  so.  Let  Him  begin  it  at  once. 
Let  Him  begin  it  to-night.  “  The  Holy  Ghost 
saith.  To-day.”  What  do  you  say?  “  To-morrow  ”? 
No,  not  if  you  have  a  particle  of  sense  left,  and  I 
believe  you  have.  You  will  say,  “  To-night.  Right 
now.” 

V.  Because  Jesus  Christ  Fills  Our  Lives  With 

Highest  Usefulness 

The  fifth  reason  why  every  man  and  woman 
in  this  auditorium  who  has  not  already  accepted 
Jesus  Christ  should  not  only  accept  Him  but  accept 
Him  to-night  is,  Because  Jesus  Christ  fills  our  lives 
with  highest  usefulness;  and  every  wise  man  and 
every  wise  woman  desires  not  only  to  he  useful  hut 
desires  to  begin  being  useful  as  soon  as  possible. 
The  Christian  life  is  the  only  really  useful  life.  We 
look  at  the  life  of  many  a  one  who  is  not  a  Chris¬ 
tian  and  say,  “  there  is  a  useful  life  ” ;  but  God 
looks  at  it  and  looks  through  it,  looks  at  it  in  all 
its  bearings,  and  writes  this  verdict  upon  it,  “  use¬ 
less.”  Whether  you  and  I  see  it  or  not,  the  man 
or  woman  who  is  not  with  Christ  is  against  Him 
(Matt.  12:30),  and  the  man  who  is  against  Jesus 
Christ  is  against  God  and  against  humanity.  His 
life  is  useless  and  worse  than  useless.  But  the  life 


212 


HOW  TO  BE  BAYED 


that  is  fully  surrendered  to  Jesus  Christ  becomes 
at  once  a  useful  life.  It  may  be  the  mere  wreck 
of  a  life,  but  it  becomes  at  once  a  useful  life. 

A  friend  of  mine  found  one  of  the  most  hopeless 
wrecks  of  womanhood  in  New  York  City  and 
brought  her  to  Jesus  Christ.  I  think  this  poor 
creature  lived  less  than  two  years  after  her  con¬ 
version  and  many  months  of  that  time  were  spent 
upon  a  sick  bed.  But  that  woman  was  used  to  the 
eternal  salvation  of  more  than  a  hundred  persons 
while  she  lay  there  dying,  and  the  story  of  the  trans¬ 
formed  life  of  “  the  Bluebird  of  Mulberry  Bend  ” 
has  gone  around  the  world  and  saved  thousands. 

Come  to  Christ.  Really  come  to  Him.  He  will 
make  you  useful.  Come  at  once  that  your  useful¬ 
ness  may  begin  at  once.  I  am  glad  I  came  to  the 
Lord  Jesus  when  I  did,  but  Oh !  if  I  had  only  come 
sooner.  How  many  precious  years  were  wasted  1 
How  many  golden  opportunities  were  lost,  oppor¬ 
tunities  that  will  never  return.  Come,  men  and 
women.  Come  now.  “  The  Holy  Ghost  saith, 
To-day.” 

VI.  Because  the  Sooner  We  Come  to  Christ 
the  Fuller  and  Richer  Will  Be  Our 

Eternity 

The  sixth  reason  why  every  man  and  woman 
in  this  auditorium  who  has  not  already  accepted 
Jesus  Christ  should  not  only  accept  Him  but  accept 
Him  to-night,  is,  Because  the  sooner  we  come  to 
Christ  the  fuller  and  richer  will  he  our  eternity. 
The  eternity  of  each  one  of  us  will  be  just  what 
we  make  it  in  the  life  that  now  is.  You  are  con- 


THE  DAY  OF  GOLDEN  OPPORTUNITY  213 


structing  your  eternity,  every  day.  Every  day  of 
true  service  for  Christ  makes  our  reward  so  much 
the  greater  and  our  eternity  so  much  the  fuller  and 
richer.  Come  to  Christ  next  Sunday  and  you  will 
be  behind  for  all  eternity  by  as  much  as  you  might 
have  wrought  this  week.  You  may  cry  in  coming 
years,  “Backward,  turn  backward,  O  Time  in  Thy 
flight,”  but  Time  will  not  turn  backward  in  its 
flight.  Time  cannot  turn  backward.  Time  is  flying 
by  every  moment  and  never  returns.  To-day  is  hur¬ 
rying  by  us  at  express  speed.  To-morrow  will  soon 
follow.  And  as  I  turn  around  and  peer  after  Yes¬ 
terday  and  To-day  as  they  plunge  into  the  unfath¬ 
omable  depths  of  the  Fast,  I  cry,  “  Yesterday,  where 
art  thou?”  Out  from  the  fathomless  abyss  of  by¬ 
gone  days  comes  the  answer,  “  Gone  forever.”  And 
I  hear  the  Holy  Ghost  crying,  “To-day”!  “To¬ 
day”!  “To-day”!  “The  Holy  Ghost  saith, 
To-day.” 

VII.  Because  If  We  Do  Not  Come  to  Jesus 

Christ  To-day  We  May  Never  Come  At  All 

I  will  give  you  one  more  reason  why  every 
man  and  woman  in  this  auditorium  who  has  not  al¬ 
ready  accepted  Jesus  Christ  should  not  only  accept 
Him  but  accept  Him  to-night,  and  that  is,  Because 
if  we  do  not  come  to  Jesus  Christ  to-day  we  may 
never  come  at  all.  That  is  not  at  all  a  remote  pos¬ 
sibility.  Thousands  and  tens  of  thousands  have 
been  as  near  to  an  acceptance  of  Jesus  Christ  as 
you  are  to-night  and  have  said,  “  Not  to-night,”  and 
now  they  have  passed  without  Christ  into  that  world 
in  which  there  is  no  hope  for  repentance  no  matter 


214 


HOW  TO  BE  SAVED 


how  “  diligently  with  tears  ”  we  may  seek  it,  into 
that  world  in  which  there  is  no  opportunity  to 
change  our  mind  or  our  eternal  destiny. 

A  man  came  into  one  of  our  tents  one  night  in 
Chicago.  It  was  the  first  time  he  had  ever  been 
in  a  meeting  of  that  kind  in  his  life.  The  words 
of  Mr.  Schiverea,  who  spoke  that  night,  made  a 
deep  impression  upon  him,  and  after  the  meeting 
was  over  he  lingered  with  a  friend  and  talked  per¬ 
sonally  with  Mr.  Schiverea.  His  friend  accepted 
Christ  and  he  was  on  the  very  verge  of  accepting 
Him.  Mr.  Schiverea  said  to  him,  “  You  will  accept 
Jesus  Christ  right  now?”  “No,”  the  man  said, 
“  this  is  the  first  time  in  my  life  that  I  was  ever  in 
a  meeting  of  this  kind.  I  cannot  decide  to-night, 
but  I  promise  you  that  I  will  come  back  Sunday 
night  and  accept  Christ.”  It  was  Friday  night  and 
there  was  to  be  no  meeting  on  Saturday.  Mr. 
Schiverea  replied  that  he  did  not  question  at  all  the 
honesty  of  his  intention  or  the  sincerity  of  his 
promise  to  return  Sunday  night  and  settle  it;  but 
he  added,  “We  have  no  guarantee  whatever  that 
you  will  live  until  Sunday  night.”  “  Oh,”  the  man 
said,  with  a  laugh,  “you  don’t  suppose  that  God  is 
going  to  cut  me  off  after  the  first  meeting  of  this 
kind  that  I  ever  attended  in  my  life  and  not  give 
me  another  opportunity?”  Mr.  Schiverea  replied, 
“  I  do  not  know.  But  I  do  know  you  are  taking 
a  great  risk  in  waiting  until  Sunday  night.  I  greatly 
fear  that  if  you  do  not  accept  Jesus  Christ  now  you 
will  never  accept  Him  and  be  lost  forever.”  “  No,” 
the  man  said,  “  I  give  you  my  word  that  I  will  be 
back  here  Sunday  night  and  accept  Christ.”  Mr. 


THE  DAY  OF  GOLDEN  OPPORTUNITY  215 


Schiverea  continued  to  plead  with  him,  but  the  man 
would  not  yield.  He  went  out  of  the  tent  with  his 
friend.  They  got  into  a  carriage  and  turned  toward 
home.  And  as  they  drove  up  the  street  they  passed 
a  saloon.  The  man  said  to  his  friend,  “  Let's  stop 
and  have  one  more  drink  and  then  we  will  both 
swear  off."  “  No,"  said  his  friend,  “  I  have  settled 
it  already.  I  have  accepted  Christ  and  I  will  never 
take  another  drink."  “Well,"  said  the  other,  “I'm 
going  to  have  one  more  drink  anyhow.  You  drive 
up  the  street  and  then  come  back  for  me  and  I  will 
be  waiting  for  you  outside."  He  entered  the  saloon. 
His  friend  drove  up  the  street,  and  after  a  few  min¬ 
utes  returned  to  pick  up  his  friend.  He  was  no¬ 
where  to  be  seen.  He  went  into  the  saloon  to  look 
for  him.  He  was  not  there.  He  went  into  the 
street  again  and  looked  up  and  down  it  for  his 
friend,  but  he  was  nowhere  in  sight.  Passing  a 
high  board  fence  he  heard  a  groan  and  passing 
swiftly  around  behind  it  he  discovered  his  friend 
lying  behind  it  stabbed,  with  an  awful  gash  in  his 
body,  unconscious  and  dying.  He  was  taken  to  the 
Presbyterian  Hospital  and  lived  until  Monday  morn¬ 
ing,  but  never  regained  consciousness  and  passed 
into  eternity  unsaved,  lost  forever.  Why?  Because 
when  “the  Holy  Ghost  said,  To-day"  he  said,  “To¬ 
morrow."  So  he  passed  unprepared  into  the  pres¬ 
ence  of  God,  and  so  will  some  of  you,  if  you  do  not 
listen  to  the  Holy  Ghost  to-night,  as  He  saith, 
“  To-day." 

One  night  when  I  was  preaching  in  Bradford, 
England,  a  man  and  his  wife  sat  side  by  side  in  the 


216 


HOW  TO  BE  SAVED 


meeting  and  were  deeply  moved,  but  they  made  no 
decision,  and  gave  no  sign.  As  they  walked  away 
from  the  meeting  the  wife  said  to  her  husband, 
“  Would  it  not  have  been  nice  if  you  and  I  both  had 
risen  to-night  and  gone  forward  together  and  both 
accepted  Christ ?”  He  answered,  “Yes,  it  would.” 
They  reached  home  and  retired.  About  two  o’clock 
the  following  morning  his  wife  awakened  him  and 
said,  “  I  feel  so  strange.”  In  a  few  minutes  from 
that  time  she  had  passed  into  eternity.  After  he 
had  laid  his  wife’s  body  away  in  the  cemetery  he 
came  back  to  the  meeting  and  told  us  this  story  and 
accepted  Christ,  but  he  came  alone.  Oh,  men  and 
women  listen!  Do  you  not  hear  the  Holy  Spirit 
crying,  “  To-day.” 

There  are  so  many  things  besides  death  that  may 
make  this  the  last  opportunity  you  will  ever  have 
and  make  a  refusal  to-night  final  and  fatal.  Loss 
of  opportunity  may  come.  The  Holy  Spirit  is  here 
in  power  to-night.  It  is  a  great  opportunity,  the 
Day  of  Golden  Opportunity.  A  like  opportunity 
may  never  come  again.  It  never  will  come  again 
for  some  of  you.  “The  Holy  Ghost  saith,  To-day.” 

A  hardened  heart  may  seal  your  doom.  When  a 
human  heart  is  moved  upon  by  the  Spirit  of  God 
as  some  of  your  hearts  are  to-night,  and  the  heart 
continues  to  resist  the  Holy  Spirit,  it  is  likely  to 
become  very  soon  hardened  and  hopeless. 

One  night  in  our  church  in  Chicago,  after  the 
meeting  in  which  many  had  accepted  Christ,  I  re¬ 
mained  talking  with  a  young  man.  He  was  under 
deep  conviction,  within  one  step  of  a  decision.  I 


THE  DAY  OF  GOLDEN  OPPORTUNITY  217 


urged  upon  him  an  immediate  acceptance  and  con¬ 
fession  of  Christ  “  No,”  he  said,  “  I  cannot  do  it 
to-night.  But  I  will  give  you  my  word  of  honour 
that  I  will  come  back  to-morrow  night  and  do  it. 
I  told  him  I  did  not  question  his  word  or  his  in¬ 
tention  ;  but  I  said,  “  I  have  no  guarantee  whatever 
that  you  will  keep  your  word.  I  have  a  feeling  in 
my  heart  that  if  you  do  not  settle  it  to-night  you  will 
never  come  back.”  “  Why,”  he  replied,  “  my  mother 
is  here  every  night.  We  live  within  a  block  of  this 
place.  I  give  you  my  word  of  honour  I  will  come 
to-morrow  night  and  settle  it.”  Again  I  said,  “  I 
do  not  question  your  word,  but  the  Spirit  of  God 
is  working  mightily  with  you  to-night,  and  if  you 
go  out  of  here  resisting  the  Spirit  of  God,  I  believe 
your  heart  will  be  so  hardened  that  your  eternal 
destiny  will  be  sealed  and  you  will  never  come 
back.”  “  No,”  he  said,  “  I  cannot  accept  to-night, 
but  I  will  come  to-morrow  night  and  settle  it.”  He 
walked  away.  I  watched  him  with  a  heavy  heart 
as  he  passed  out  of  the  door.  I  said  to  myself, 
“  He  will  never  come  back,”  and  he  never  did. 
Quite  a  while  later  I  asked  his  mother  about  him 
and  she  told  me  he  had  never  come  back  into  the 
church  from  that  night. 

Men  and  women,  listen!  You  cannot  trifle  with 
God,  and  you  cannot  trifle  with  your  own  souls,  and 
you  cannot  trifle  with  the  Holy  Spirit.  The  Holy 
Spirit  is  not  only  saying  in  our  text,  but  he  is  say¬ 
ing  in  your  hearts  to-night,  “  To-day!  Right  now! 
accept  Christ.”  Will  you  listen  to  the  mighty, 
gracious  Spirit  of  God?  Will  you  do  as  He  bids 


218 


HOW  TO  BE  SAVED 


you?  Will  you  listen  right  now  and  harden  not 
your  heart,  but  accept  Jesus  Christ  as  your  Saviour, 
surrender  to  Him  as  your  Lord  and  Master,  and 
begin  to  confess  to  Him  as  such  before  the  world, 
and  be  saved,  and  get  right  here  and  now  the  won¬ 
derful  blessings  that  He  gives  and  He  alone  gives? 


Printed  in  the  United  States  of  America 


EVANGELISTIC  METHODS,  ETC 


R.  A.  TORREY ,  D.D. 

The  Gospel  for  To-day 

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R.  A.  TORREY ,  D.D. 

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and  hit  it.’  He  is  no  trifler,  and  does  not  act  as  if  he 
imagined  that  one  bit  of  argument  or  appeal  is  not  about 
as  good  as  another  irrespective  of  the  particular  state  ol 
mind  of  the  person  appealed  to.” 

DWIGHT  MALLORY  PRATT ,  D.  D.  Pilgrim 

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Introduction  by  Frederick  L.  Fagley,  D.D. 

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JOHN  TIMOTHY  STONE 

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R.  A .  TORREY,  D.D. 

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EDWARD  M.  BOUNDS 

The  Possibilities  of  Prayer 

The  Bounds  “Spiritual  Life  Books”  Edited  by 
Homer  W.  Hodge.  $1.25. 

A  rich,  exceptionally  helpful  addition  to  Dr.  Bounds’ 
books. 

“Many  will  find  their  understanding  clarified  and  their 
faith  in  the  possibilities  of  prayer  strengthened  by  a 
careful  reading  of  this  book.” — Watchman-Examiner. 

SADHU  SUNDAR  SINGH 

Translated  by  Rev.  and  Mrs.  Arthur  Parker . 

At  the  Master’s  Feet 

Boards.  75c. 

Simple  but  impressive  chapters  on  God’s  Presence,  Sin, 
Prayer,  Service,  The  Cross,  Heaven  and  Hell  by  a 
man  who  has  proved  himself  to  be  a  faithful  Christian 
evangelist.  They  take'  the  form  of  a  colloquy  between  the 
Master  and  the  Disciple,  expressed  in  parabolic  form  and 
Oriental  imagery. 

GEORGE  WHITEFIELD  RIDOUT 

Asbury  College,  Wilmore,  Ky. 

Amazing  Grace 

Messages  on  the  Grace  of  God.  $1.25. 

A  book  of  stirring  Gospel  addresses  by  a  man  of  large 
experience  in  the  evangelistic  field.  They  are  clear, 
ringing  messages,  simply  phrased,  yet  forming  the  ve¬ 
hicle  for  the  conveyance  of  a  Gospel  of  “amazing  grace.” 


BIOGRAPHY,  ETC 


WAYNE  C.  W.  WILLIAMS 

William  Jennings  Bryan 

A  Study  in  Political  Vindication.  $1.00. 

This  book  is  not  a  biography.  The  great  "Commoner” 
has  withstood  successfully,  a  great  storm  of  adverse  criti¬ 
cism  and  obloquy.  Mr.  Williams  here  presents  a  concise, 
succinct  review  of  Mr.  Bryan’s  extraordinary  contribution 
to  the  life  and  welfare  of  his  time. 

CLARA  DENISON  LOOMIS 

Friend,  of  the  East  Dor  emus  School  (.Woman's 
Union  Missionary  Society ),  Yokohama,  Japan. 

Henry  Loomis  :  Friend  of  the  East 
Introduction  by  Robert  E.  Speer.  $1.25. 

A  clear,  concise  account  of  the  life  and  labors  of  a 
man  who  through  a  period  of  forty-eight  years  labored 
in  Japan  and  Korea,  and  came  into  close,  personal  contact 
wim  the  people  of  the  Far  Fast. 

CLEMENTINA  BUTLER 

Chairman,  Executive  Committee, 
American  Ramabai  Association . 

Pandita  Ramabai  (Sarasvati) 

Pioneer  in  the  Movement  for  Education  of  the 
Child-Widow  of  India.  Illustrated.  '  $1.00. 

The  story  of  Pundita  Ramabai  is  in  every  way  a  re¬ 
markable  one.  She  it  was  who  first  heard  the  cry  of  the 
child-widow  of  India.  Without  resources,  herself  a  widow 
and  surrounded  by  fanaticism  and  superstition,  yet  she 
made  her  voice  heard. 

MRS.  ARTHUR  PARKER 

Sadhu  Sundar  Singh 

Fourth  Edition.  Illustrated.  $1.25. 

This  new  edition  contains  a  28-page  appendix  reporting 
the  Sadhu’s  visit  to  England  and  America  in  1920,  his 
experiences  in  Tibet  in  1921,  and  his  trip  through 
Palestine  and  Europe  in  1922. 

ROBERT  E.  SPEER ,  D.D.  {Editor) 

A  Missionary  Pioneer  in  the  Far  East 

A  Memorial  of  Divie  Bethune  McCartee.  $1.50. 

*‘A  story  of  wonderful  achievement  and  is  a  striking 
illustration  of  how  the  missionary,  when  he  has  states¬ 
manlike  qualities,  touches  the  whole  life  of  the  nation 
where  he  ministers.” — Christian  Work. 


HELPFUL  SERMONS 


JAMES  I.  VANCE ,  D.D.,  LL.D. 

Pastor  First  Presbyterian  Church ,  Nashville,  Tense, 

In  the  Breaking  of  the  Bread 

Communion  Addresses.  $1.25. 

*‘A  volume  of  communion  addresses  marked  by  deep 
spiritual  insight  and  knowledge  of  the  human  heart.  They 
are  well  adapted  to  awaken  the  spiritual  conceptions  which 
should  accompany  the  observance  of  the  Lord’s  Supper — 
suggestions  fitted  for  a  communion  occasion.  The  ad¬ 
dresses  all  bear  upon  the  general  theme  of  the  Lord’s  Sup¬ 
per  and  showed  marked  spirituality  of  thought  and  fervency 
of  expression.” — United  Presbyterian. 


TEUNIS  E.  GOVWENS  Pastor  Second  Presbyterian 
-  Church ,  Louisville ,  Ky, 

The  Rock  That  Is  Higher 

And  Other  Addresses.  $1.25. 

An  unusually  successful  volume  of  discourses  of  which 
Dr.  Charles  S.  Macfarland  of  the  Church  Federal  Council, 
says:  “Contents  the  intellect  because  it  first  satisfies  the 
heart,  and  commands  the  incontestable  assent  of  human 

experience .  As  I  have  read  it  I  have  found  my 

conscience  penetrated,  my  faith  deepened  and  my  hope 
Quickened." 


W.  RUSSELL  BOWIE ,  D.D. 

Rector  of  St.  Paul's  Church,  Richmond,  V<K 

The  Road  of  the  Star 

and  Other  Sermons.  $1.50. 

A  volume  of  addresses  which  bring  the  message  of 
Christianity  with  fresh  and  kindling  interpretation  to  the 
immediate  needs  of  men.  The  extraordinary  distinction 
of  Dr.  Bowie’s  preaching  rises  from  the  fact  that  to 
great  vigor  of  thought  he  has  added  the  winged  power  of 
an  imagination  essentially  poetic. 


JOSEPH  JUDSON  TAYLOR ,  D.D.,  LL.D. 

Author  of  “  The  Sabbatic  Question “  The  God  of  War,"  etc . 

Radiant  Hopefulness 

$1.00. 

A  message  of  enheartenment,  a  word  of  cheer,  for  men 
and  women  whose  hearts  have  been  fearful,  whose  spirits 
have  been  shaken  in  the  turbulent  times  through  which 
the  world  has  passed  in  recent  -years,  with  which  man¬ 
kind  still  finds  itself  faced.  In  this  volume  of  addresses. 
Dr.  Taylor  points  the  way  to  comfort  amid  confusion,  to 
peaceful  harborage  amid  the  prevailing  storm. 


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